


Distances

by squishy_lotus



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: ADHD medication, ADHD mention, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Beach Sex, Beaches, Belly Kink, Blow Jobs, Bokuto Koutarou has ADHD, Chubby Kink, Chubby Matsukawa Issei, Drinking, Enthusiastic Consent, Fat Akaashi Keiji, Fat Character, Future Fic, Gender Identity, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Hawaii, Hotel Sex, Japanese National Volleyball Team, Long-Distance Relationship, Multi, Non Binary Akaashi Keiji, Other, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Semi-Public Sex, Swimming Pools, Vacation, belly play, chubby character, fat kink, non binary character, resort au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 00:36:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 23,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10888224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squishy_lotus/pseuds/squishy_lotus
Summary: A last minute vacation to a Hawaiian beach resort orchestrated by the co-captain of the Men's National Volleyball Team leads Bokuto to meet the most beautiful person he's ever seen in his life.Sun, sweat, booze and volleyball frame three separate love stories, but how permanent can anything be once the vacation comes to an end?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about what I wanted to write in a longer format (since I do a lot of short writing about this kink over on my tumblr squishylotus) I thought I should put my resort experience to good use lol I wrote the plot while I was in Cuba over the winter break, trying to think about what a perfect resort fantasy might look like. I hope the details transfer over to a different locale, I also did a lot of research but I've never been to Hawaii before. (On that note, the pick up line was passed down to me by a Cuban friend during my trip, I thought it was really neat and had to use it even though it didn't exactly fit.)
> 
> There's a playlist in the works for this and a few illustrations coming up! Stay tuned, I'll post the links in the Start Notes over the next few days!
> 
> EDIT 1: Here is the playlist!! https://8tracks.com/manialoll/distances

 

DAY 1 OF 8

 

Bokuto has been on the roster of the National Volleyball Team for over three years now but the past month has probably been the most intense period of his life so far. When he was recruited straight out of high school in the spring of 2017, the national team was in a pretty rough spot. Reeling from their big loss in the Rio qualifiers where they had given it everything they had, the stakes were incredibly high for the new recruits. Literally. Be better, taller, spectacular, taller. Shake up the established dynamic. Boost the average height. And they had. Bokuto had joined with a solid group of people. Ushiwaka, Kuroo, Yaku, Oikawa, and a handful of really skilled college players. Others joined them as they graduated like Goshiki, Aone, Nishinoya and Kageyama, or progressed in the college circuit and joined later when they were deemed ready like Makki, Daichi and hopefully, if Kageyama could pull it off, Hinata.

At first the recruiters made a big deal out of height, especially following their defeat to Turkey in the qualifiers. Eventually with the pressure of the Little Giant on their team, they had to bend under the talent of people like Nakashima Takeru and HoshiumiKourai. All together they added to what older members such as the Little Giant had been building, and now Bokuto is confident that they have a solid team.

They’re really gearing up for it now. 2020, half a year before the pre-Olympic trials, they have just spent a grueling month and a half in Brazil facing off the best of the best. Then, lightheaded and dehydrated, Oikawa as co-captain had booked them a 1 week surprise trip to Hawaii. Not everyone could or wanted to go, and most of the older members chose to stay home once they landed in Japan. For those that did want to go, they quickly landed in Japan, watered their plants, and hopped on a plane. And then another plane. And then a bus. And now it’s 2 in the afternoon, their bags are put away in their rooms, their shirts already soaked through with sweat, and their faces sagging with jet lag. They lean as an awkward pack of gangly buff men on the edge of the beach bar. Bokuto glares down the seemingly endless stretch of sand and curses his forgotten sunglasses, collecting dust in his apartment. He forgot them when he went to Brazil, too. He should probably just buy another pair—

The thought dies in his head, cut off by the sight of the most beautiful person Bokuto has ever seen.

He?? Bokuto would ask later, if he could ever manage to talk to such a majestic being. The person in question is topless but he doesn't want to assume. They? They are pretty far away still so it’s hard to tell much about them, actually, but the closer they get the more Bokuto can see and the more he likes. They seem a bit shorter than him, probably not by much, with a perfect round face, beautiful dark hair, piercing eyes probably, and let's face it, an amazing body. Wide hips, thick thighs covered in wet clingy black swimming trunks, a perfect low belly and curves in all sorts of nice places.They walked right out of the ocean like a merperson casually visiting the shore, too stunning to actually blend in with the surface dwellers. Now they wipe water from their eyes and Bokuto almost chokes on his Tequila Sunrise. Unfortunately for him, Oikawa notices.

"See something you like?" He croons into Bokuto's ear. Bokuto shivers and playfully shoves him away.

"M-maybe." He looks up, away, anywhere.

"Well we're here to relax, you should go say something!" Oikawa shoves him back in the direction of the beautiful stranger. Bokuto hopes they don't notice, they're still pretty far away, but if this idiot doesn't shut up about it soon, Bokuto won't stand a chance. He feels anything but relaxed.

"N-no!" He hisses. "Not now, what would I even say?"

"You could start with 'Hello'," Yaku cuts in from the other side of Oikawa where he is sitting on a bar stool. Bokuto can hear Kuroo guffawing from somewhere behind him.

"W-whatever!" Bokuto blushes about twenty shades darker. "Your feet don't even touch the ground!"

"Low blow," Oikawa teases over Yaku's screeching. "Are you really that flustered?"

"I--!!" Bokuto wants to say something, a million things, to get Oikawa off his back, but he can't say shit because there they are, that person, less than 10 feet away. Bokuto stops and stares and feels himself instantly deflating from any previous annoyance. They walk past him calmly, long wet lashes fluttering as they blink away the salt water leaking from their bangs. They walk by most of the team unnoticed, order a drink, leave a tip, and walk by again, sipping on a Blue Lagoon.

Definitely, without a doubt, confirmed the most beautiful person Bokuto has ever seen.

“Well, so much for that.” Yaku says almost whistfully and the team goes back to slowly acclimating to their new environment.

Bokuto doesn't see them the rest of the day. The team goes for a swim, they play catch in the water, they try to tan, half of them burn despite most of them having a solid base from all the beach volleyball they played in Brazil, the rest laugh at them. They get a dance lesson from one of the animators but they're all too jetlagged to remember any of it. They don't have reservations for any of the resort restaurants so they go to the buffet and then collectively skip the nightlife to crash into their beds.  
Bokuto’s dreams may or may not be filled with the beautiful stranger and visions of drowning in waves of blue curacao.

 

DAY 2 OF 8

 

The next day, Bokuto wakes up at the crack of dawn having slept more in that one night than the past three days combined. He has more energy than he's had all week, and nothing to do with it. He thinks about waking Kuroo up but he can hear him snoring through their shared bathroom and rethinks that plan. Instead, he quickly throws on some training gear and goes for a run around the resort. It's a nice place, fairly large, with 4 all-inclusive restaurants, three pools, a spa, and other amenities. The grounds are luscious with greenery, and birds flutter between the trees. Everywhere he goes, he can hear the soothing sounds of waves and wind. Bokuto maps out the important places in his head, then heads to the beach. There he tucks his shoes and socks under a beach chair and runs up and down the bay until he's exhausted. When he makes it back to the main part of the resort, the dining hall is opening for breakfast. He is one of the first people there and the food he piles on his plate is piping hot. He's getting his second plate when he bumps into Oikawa. He hides his dirty plate behind his back, but the co-captain has seen it already.

"I'm not gonna stop you, we're on vacation." He laughs and grabs a fresh plate from the pile.

"Well yeah..." Bokuto gets in line behind him. Bokuto eyes him with suspicion.

"Yo." Makki greets him, takes a clean plate, and joins the line behind him."Hey," He nudges Oikawa. "You're thinking harsh things, stop it." Makki drawls sleepily behind him. Oikawa shrugs.

Makki starts arguing with him and Bokuto checks out. He appreciates Makki's body politics but he wouldn’t know how to join in. It’s hard not to let Oikawa get in his head, especially as a trusted co-captain. Bokuto drops off his plate with the other dirty dishes, walks out of the buffet line, out of the building, and finally out of the crowds heading toward the dining hall. He remembers something while he's wandering around and dry swallows his meds. The resort really is beautiful. There are trees and rocks and flowers everywhere, little paths shooting off like veins. The buildings are colorful and the beach can be seen from most of the resort. There's an artificial waterfall near the entrance and another one in the main pool. He wants to hang out with people but most of the team is probably still asleep. It’s starting to get hot. He could use a swim.

Bokuto picks a poolside chair near one of the ladders in the biggest of the pools to shuck his clothes onto. He sits to take his shoes off and looks at his surroundings. The main pool is fairly large with curved edges, the waterfall at one end, and a little concrete island in the middle. It's still early but it's getting more crowded. There are children playing in the shallow end and a few adults dipping their toes. There's a dark shape too that has yet to surface, moving quickly and fluidly from one side of the deep end to the other. He follows it with his eyes until it gets too close to the edge nearest him and he can't see it anymore.

Akaashi is an excellent swimmer. Bokuto's breath gets caught in his throat when he sees that face appear at the pool ladder in front of him. Time starts passing in slow motion. He sees the hair, slick with pool water, dripping at the tips. Those dark lashes that open onto dark grey eyes. Those eyes. They’re not even looking at him but Bokuto feels them. Their nose is cute. Their lips are full. Their double chin is adorable. Bokuto tries to tear his eyes away, it’s really not polite to stare but… It's a classic ladder scene at the foot of Bokuto's chair. It feels like an American movie. That mystical being from the day before that may or may not have haunted Bokuto's blissful dreams pulls themselves up the ladder with ease, water rolling off of their shoulders and down that body. Bokuto has fallen for a range of people in his short lifetime but he’s never met someone so close to the people he makes up for himself at night. They step on the paved poolside and cutely shake their hair, which sends delightful little ripples along their whole body. Bokuto can't believe how close he gets to be to this person right now. Some of the water lands on him and the stranger mutters a quiet "Sorry." before walking away. Bokuto feels like he's just been lightly splashed by a celebrity.

The thought occurs to him that he could probably say something now but suddenly Bokuto is frozen to his chair. He has to. He has to do something. He has to say something, but they've walked away already with that smooth low voice that sounded like smoked caramel and Bokuto can't. The stranger walks out of sight. He could run. It'd be silly it'd be--a hand clasps his shoulder and Bokuto's head whips up to look at his teammate towering over him.

"Aone, what am I gonna do??" He bemoans. Aone shrugs, gives his shoulder a squeeze, and takes a clean dive into the water. Bokuto looks at the no diving sign behind him. Aone seems unscathed when he surfaces, but then again he never really looks scathed, not eventhat time when a Brazilian power spiker accidentally broke three of his fingers.

"Having some troubles, Bokuto-sempai?" Goshiki pops up behind him and sits on the chair in the shade next to him. He’s wearing a big floppy sunhat from the gift shop, he has zinc on his nose and a nasty sunburn on the rest of his face, a book about the history of volleyball in his bag and a resigned look about him.

"Yeah... are you gonna be alright kiddo?"

"Yeah! I just have to take it easy for a few days..." Goshiki looks at the pool longingly.

"You could probably still swim if you wore a shirt or something?" Bokuto tries to be encouraging. Goshiki instantly perks up and runs off to his room to change. Bokuto finally goes for a swim of his own. As more of the team wakes up for the day, they start gathering around the pool. Of course, one of them has a volleyball in tow and they recruit a few strangers to play a game of water polo. And of course it devolves when someone—Nishinoya—starts jumping off of people’s shoulders to reach the ball, making their feet touch the bottom of the pool.

That night, Bokuto is getting restless. A few teammates decide to go to a local bar near the resort and he lays out his woes, pestering the people around him for lines or something, anything, he could say to this person.

“Okay, fine," Kuroo, who had been without comment this entire time, finally takes pity on him and gives him a pickup line to use. "Here." He takes Bokuto's hand and writes something on it in letters.

“What’s this?” Bokuto squints at his hand. He turns his hand sideways, then upside down. “English?”

“Spanish.”

“Why?” Bokuto wants to believe in his best friend but this is getting more and more suspicious by the minute.

“You said you weren’t sure what gender they were so I was looking for something neutral and the only thing I could think of was in Spanish.” Kuroo says matter-of-fact, as if everyone has a few Spanish lines memorized, just in case.

“What does it mean then?”

“Hello recently hatched butterfly.”

“What.”

“Trust me.”

 

DAY 3 OF 8

 

Bokuto is normally an early riser, but Kuroo gave him shit for going on a run without him yesterday so now there he is at eight thirty in the morning having already gone for a swim in the ocean, threatening to knock Kuroo's door down and barge into his room. The middle blocker finally comes out, bed head twice as bad as usual. They take off. Kuroo takes a while to warm up but soon Bokuto has to up his game just to catch up to him. They run into Daichi and finish off with a sweaty race to the dining hall.

“Should we really be going to breakfast like this?” Daichi asks, panting and rubbing sweat off of his face with his own t-shirt. They observe a couple no older than them entering the breakfast buffet in their pajamas and shrug, following them inside.

  
Unfortunately for Bokuto, it's in his sweaty gross workout clothes that he gets to finally make a first impression on his crush. He supposes it makes sense that a normal person on vacation would wait until a more reasonable hour to grab their breakfast, but he wasn't expecting to bump into them now. When he spots them, he quickly tries to spike his hair, but he realizes that he’s doing it with his own sweat and immediately stops. Kuroo who of course noticed the whole thing laughs at him and musses up his hair.

"Hey!" Bokuto bats his hand away and the small commotion attracts the gaze of the stranger from the other side of the breakfast buffet. They lock eyes. Bokuto takes a deep breath and looks at the smudged ink on his palm.

"Hola capullito de alhelí!" Bokuto speaks up over the sounds of communal breakfast around them. He gives a smile and a small wave and prays to all the gods that he didn't completely butcher the pronunciation or say something completely embarrassing. Did Kuroo say he got it from an old song? What if it's a completely embarrassing thing to say to begin with? Is it really a compliment if you’re a recently hatched butterfly? Doesn’t that imply you were just in a cocoon?

"Hola," Akaashi smiles, which is not only a good sign but also the best use of Bokuto's eyes since he first opened them in utero. "I don't know much Spanish," They say in English. "But I think we might share a language?" They say in Japanese.

"Yeah!" Bokuto nods and he's definitely over-excited but there's nothing to be done about it and the stranger seems endeared. He doesn't really know what to say after that, so he keeps himself occupied by loading up his plate. Really, he’s trying not to glance up into those eyes every two seconds.

"The sausages are really nice here," They offer, taking a fair amount.

"They are!" Bokuto takes a few himself.

"The ham is nicely cooked as well," They take some slices. "Breakfast meat in general is just great." He smiles again and Bokuto instantly knows he would follow that smile anywhere.

"It really is!" Oikawa can go deep throat a carrot. "Barbeque is my favourite but all meats generally have my vote."

They make conversation as they make their way down the long table, grabbing pancakes and fruits and fish and rice and all sorts of things. The attractive stranger is shameless about piling things on their plate, as they should be, and Bokuto feels inspired to grab more things than he usually would when he's with the team. He's had a hard time adjusting from eating everything in sight to sustain his growth spurts to suddenly having to follow Oikawa's spartan meal plans 'just in case his metabolism decides he's old all of a sudden'. Since Kuroo and Daichi have long since left them alone to get their morning coffee and regroup with the team, when Bokuto and his crush get to the end of the spread, Bokuto isn't quite sure where to go. They stand there, in a not uncomfortable stasis.

"What's your name?" Bokuto finally blurts out. "I-I'm Bokuto Koutarou, by the way!" Bokuto is hyperaware of how much he sounds like Goshiki all of a sudden. Not that that's a bad thing—

"Akaashi Keiji." The stranger has a name, and that name is beautiful. Bokuto notes the way his conversation partner refers to themselves, not with anything gendered but a more formal pronoun.

"How do you like to be referred to, Akaashi?" He asks just as enthusiastically. Akaashi looks surprised.

"Oh!" The sound is soft for an exclamation. "No one's ever asked me that before, at least not in Japanese." He smiles at Bokuto and also at himself. It's a quiet, private moment for the two of them. "I think masculine pronouns are fine? I'll let you know if that changes."

"Alright!"

"You?"

"Me?" Bokuto points at his face. "No one's ever asked me before either!" He giggles. "He and him are good, it's what I'm used to."

"Bokuto!" Nishinoya waves him over from the other side of the room where the team has pulled a few tables together.

"I guess you should go, Bokuto-san." Bokuto pouts. Nishinoya clearly doesn't think he's being heard because he yells his name again, even louder.

"Let's hang out!" He blurts out to Akaashi under pressure. "Can we meet on the beach later?"

"Sure," Akaashi smiles gently and waves from his plate with his pinky and ring finger and they part ways. Bokuto rides the wave of the interaction with a blushing face.

"Way to go," Kuroo claps him on the back when he gets close enough. "Did it work?"

"I think so," Bokuto smiles kind of dreamily.

"Sorry about Nishinoya," Daichi, who had been there at the bar the day before and knew all about Bokuto's situation, says apologetically. "No one updated him."

"My most sincere apologies for getting in the way of romance!" He says loudly and completely seriously and Bokuto likes his enthusiasm but he’s also quite thankful that Akaashi went to eat outside somewhere, far from his team.

Goshiki wants to be let in on the situation too and soon the entire table is discussing his love life and Bokuto chokes on his ham when Tsukki calmly states that "Oh, that person? You should have said something Bokuto-san. We spent an hour talking about a book yesterday, I guess I could have introduced you. Or something."

 

 

 

After breakfast Akaashi heads back to his room to change into swimsuit shorts and a portrait necked jersey top. Then he goes to the beach, gets a drink and wanders around. He figures he's probably early so he walks with his feet in the water away from the resort, and walks back once he's far enough away to realize that Bokuto won't be in that direction. Upon his return, he sees a fairly large group clustered around the beach volleyball net, Bokuto included. He leaves his empty glass with an employee and walks over calmly. The net is close to the stage where they sometimes have shows in the evenings. It's also where they blast music all day, an ungodly mix of American Top 40 from over 10 years ago, local songs, and for some reason Latin American club hits. Akaashi has been at this resort for a week already and as a result he is very familiar with every single song on the playlist.

The group doesn't seem to have noticed him yet, so Akaashi hangs back a little. Then, in time with the music, with a move that has clearly been choreographed in advance, they all whip off their various sweatshirts, Hawaiian shirts, a bubble vest? And other fashion crimes to reveal their matching volleyball jerseys for the Japanese national team. It's so extra, Akaashi can't help the laugh that bubbles out of his lips.

"Akaashi!" Bokuto notices him instantly and waves him over.

"Hey," He says quietly with his head down, trying not to embarrass the team or himself by laughing more. He doesn't move any closer so Bokuto runs over to him.

"We're trying to play 6 on 6 but we're missing a setter!" He starts babbling. "I mean of course we have more than one setter, but at least half of the team stayed in Japan, I mean I understand that Kageyama had to stay behind so he could continue to train Hinata so that he might join us in time to make it to the Olympics, but it would have been pretty rad to see what Ushiwaka is like on vacation, you know?" Akaashi doesn't know, although he is aware of who Ushijima Wakatoshi is. "I think Makki might volunteer but it's been a sore spot for him lately so--"

"I'm a setter." Akaashi says simply.

"WHAAAAT!!!" Bokuto is over the moon. His outburst attracts the attention of the rest of the team. They gather closer.

"What's up?" Kuroo asks, swinging an arm around Bokuto's shoulders. He only realizes what that might look like to Akaashi when they meet eyes, but the shorter raven doesn't seem to think anything of it. Bokuto sure doesn't.

"Akaashi can set! We have a second setter!" Bokuto turns his head to face Kuroo and their noses practically touch. 'My crush is perfect!' Bokuto doesn't say, but it's clearly implied. Kuroo doesn't want to be the type of person who has doubts in this particular situation, but he can't help his conditioning. Akaashi is, well, for lack of a better word, fat. Kuroo manages to scold his face and hopefully his tone too. He turns away from Bokuto’s eager face.

"That's good," He says, and decides to roll with it. "How should we divide the teams?"

"Rock paper scissors between captains?" Yaku suggests.

"Oikawa has to be one of them though, since he's the other setter." Someone points out.

"I want to be on Akaashi's team!" Bokuto announces and drags Kuroo with him. They forget about rock paper scissors after that and players naturally gravitate to either side of the net. A few players want to try this mysterious new setter's tosses and a few more are worried that his side won't get enough players, but eventually they're evenly matched.

"My team versus yours then!" Oikawa declares with a regal tone, puffing up so that he stands slightly taller than Bokuto. Oikawa turns toward Akaashi. Kuroo tries to give him a warning glance, but Oikawa doesn't seem to pick up on it. "May the best setter win," He drawls. Akaashi doesn't say anything back, but he nods and shakes his hand under the net, a fierce glare of competition in his eyes.

The team is trying to be good about the situation but most of them except for Bokuto and Makki clearly have their doubts.  
Someone suggests that they divide into shirts versus skins and Bokuto wants to offer up their side for skins because of his clear ulterior motives, but he's halfway through volunteering and the other side is already stripped. Akaashi wouldn't usually question the motives of a group of guys flashy enough to choreograph a reveal for their uniforms, but they have Goshiki on their side and the poor boy looks like a lobster with a big square of white butter on his nose. They're clearly doing this to make sure Akaashi is comfortable. Akaashi just kind of rolls his eyes. They mean well, he thinks. The small facial gesture would have gone unseen by anyone but Bokuto happened to be ogling him at just the right time. He might take it to mean that Akaashi is comfortable with his body, which makes Bokuto pleased and that much more pumped to play. They tuck in their shirts. Someone blows a whistle because of course someone brought a whistle. And it's on.

So of course Akaashi sets brilliantly. Oikawa tries to trip him up with a targeted serve, and his serves have only been getting more and more frightening with the years, but Akaashi is a fantastic receiver too. Kuroo was prepared to bring out his old Nekoma game play and bring the ball to him like he would do with Kenma but it isn't really needed. The surprise factor for the other side, along with how great Bokuto and Akaashi are able to work together so suddenly, is enough to make them win their first set, and then another. At that point the other side is getting pretty sun burnt, especially Goshiki, so they decide to stop at best two out of three instead of three out of five like they’ve grown used to.

"That was... cool..." Akaashi grins though the sweat, panting. "I think my stamina is the only thing that took a hit since I stopped playing." He remarks more to himself than anyone else.

Oikawa marches to the net and grips it tightly in his hand, demanding to know where Akaashi played. It honestly reminds Daichi of Kageyama, the way he acted at the end of that famous middle school match against Hinata. Akaashi keeps his calm demeanor, victory burning in his expression.

"Shinzen." He says simply as he finishes catching his breath.

"Oh!" Yaku exclaims to everyone's surprise. "You were number 12 in 2015, right? The first year setter?"

"Yeah."

“Oh ho!” Kuroo recognizes him now too.

"Hmm." Oikawa pouts. "How come I've never seen you before?"

Akaashi shrugs. He doesn't want to be impolite by pointing out that Oikawa might have seen him if his high school team had ever made it to nationals. Beside, Goshiki didn't recognize him either even though he had. It's no use denying that Akaashi looks quite a bit different now than he did in high school. And on top of all that, Akaashi wasn't exactly the most charismatic member of his team so he never got more than a short quote for interviews even though his team was in quite a few magazines. It's not a big deal.

  
After that, Akaashi gets swept up by the energy of the team, and Oikawa moves on. They're very impressed with him, with the game, with Shinzen because it must be so hard to set for so many synchronized attacks. Akaashi is in the team's inner circle now. It’s a shame that Shinzen dropped out of the group training camp a few years before Akaashi started high school, he would have probably been good friends with some of these people. They invite him to join them for supper, partly to help Bokuto and his massive crush, but also because they've sort of bonded. Akaashi doesn't mind, even if it's a lot of enthusiastic people at once, and Bokuto is ecstatic that he has an excuse to hang out with Akaashi.

They do part ways for the afternoon so that the team can go humiliate themselves trying to surf. It's a pretty unforgettable bonding experience that ends with Kuroo throwing a sea urchin at Bokuto's head and Nishinoya being the only person on the entire team able to get anywhere. It's surprising because they have Oikawa on their team and Oikawa is good at everything, but he's been pretty distracted since their match. Bokuto would think he wasn't taking the defeat too well, but every time he looks at Oikawa the setter seems to be looking for something. He's always scanning the crowd or the horizon or once just the ocean. Bokuto doesn't know what he's looking for but he had to repress the urge to tell him it probably isn't all the way out there.

Soaked, salty, and exhausted, they grab drinks to go, just because they can, and head back to their rooms to shower and get ready. On the way, Oikawa trips on a boulder and spills his drink all over himself. It's the last straw for Yaku.

"C'mon, man." He offers his hand to help Oikawa up and the taller boy takes it. "What's been up with you today? You're all over the place."

"Not during--"

"Not during the match, no, but you've been absent minded since we got here."

"Yeah, you always look like you're looking for someone, you scan the faces of everyone who walks by." Goshiki remarks and Bokuto thinks he might have been late to the being concerned about Oikawa party. Something clearly clicks for Kuroo.

"Is there a specific reason we're here?"

"What, on this dream vacation?" Oikawa tries to scoff him off.

"In Hawaii, on this island, at a specific resort where you feel the need to check out every staff person specifically." Oikawa is a good bluffer but he can't help the shade of red his face turns to. "You booked the trip." Kuroo reminds him. Oikawa feints right and tries to get away without saying anything, but Kuroo's extra-long arms catch him before he can escape. "Tooru." Oikawa looks guilty. "Just tell us." Makki claps Oikawa on the back in a supportive gesture that confirms to the group that Kuroo is on to something.

"When I was a kid I had a best friend who lived across the street, Iwa-chan. We went to different schools but we caught bugs together and got into volleyball together and dreamed of being on a team together so that we could be a real setter and ace duo." Oikawa glances at the floor. "When we were about to graduate from elementary school and start at Kitaiichi together, his family moved to Hawaii." He looks at Kuroo. "To this island, near this resort... where theoretically he works now." Kuroo smiles.

"That's great news though, isn't it?" He shakes Oikawa with the hand that's still on his shoulder. "You should have told us sooner so we could help you look!"

"What does he look like?" Tsukishima gets straight to the point. Bokuto jumps a little bit. He had sort of forgotten that Tsukki was with them since he refused to try to surf with 'a bunch of nautically uncoordinated idiots who are probably all going to get concussions on the reef'. Oikawa pulls up a picture of a picture on his phone. The boy in the photo is maybe eight years old, which isn't really the most helpful--

"Oh." Tsukishima nods. "Iwaizumi, right?"

Every pair of eyes on the team turns to look at him. Oikawa chokes on his spit, Makki chokes on a sip of his drink and has to spit it out, Nishinoya bursts out laughing and claps Makki's back with excessive force.

"Yeah." Oikawa manages to strangle out.

"He works at the spa, he's a massage therapist." Tsukishima says matter-of-factly. Oikawa turns from Kuroo to face Tsukishima. He places both hands on his shoulders dramatically.

"Thank you, Tsukki-tsuntsun, I don't know how I could ever repay you!"

"You could start by never calling me that again."

Then they grill Oikawa for a solid ten minutes on his friend, his feelings, and why the hell he went into this trip knowing so very little. It turns out that the answer is just jetlag. In the midst of planning, traveling, unpacking and repacking, Oikawa who had been chatting online with Iwaizumi for over a month before they were suddenly whisked away to Brazil forgot to ask him for his department, his address, or anything else other than his number which he couldn’t use since he couldn't really access his data or the internet without giving away his first born to the phone company.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Goshiki asks eagerly. Oikawa smiles.

"Go on without me." He says, squaring up his shoulders. He strides over to the resort's on site massage parlour.

 

 

 

The team rolls up for supper looking pretty spiffy. They’re thankful that at least one of them, Yaku, had any previous resort experience or else none of them would have thought to pack any formal wear. They’re wearing button downs and long pants, some ties, a sport jacket, some cool socks. When they get there, Akaashi is already waiting outside, taking pictures of a flower with his cellphone. Bokuto feels a blush creeping from his cheeks all the way up into his hairline. He’s wearing another clingy wide-necked shirt, with wide pants that look sort of like a skirt, all in black, very androgynous. Bokuto is possibly even more taken. He fiddles with the sleeve of his patterned button down until Akaashi notices them.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Bokuto tugs at his collar. There’s a chance that it could be completely one-sided but—it feels like there’s electricity in the air. Between Akaashi and himself there’s a pleasant tension that maybe wasn’t there before.

“Come on, you two!” Makki calls them over and Aone quietly tugs on Bokuto’s sleeve and they get seated at a long table at the back with the implication that they can be as loud as they want because they’ll be far away from anyone else. It’s oddly considerate? Bokuto likes it because they can see the kitchen from there and he gets to look at stuff instead of always looking at Akaashi and coming off as creepy. That doesn’t last too long though, staff bring them menus and he is pulled into an involved conversation about food with Akaashi and Nishinoya. In the end they order way more than three people should be able to eat. To be fair, the rest of the table does the same.

They get a round of drinks, and then another, appetizers, and more beer. Bokuto is fairly tipsy. In the corner of his eye he can see that Goshiki is completely gone already, but he can also tell that Daichi is keeping an eye on him. Everyone is having fun. His corner of the table is sort of quiet for now, mostly listening. He takes a chance and glances at Akaashi’s face only to blush from chin to hair roots when he meets Akaashi’s gaze. Akaashi leans on him, just slightly, just enough that Bokuto can feel the warmth of his body through their clothing and forget how to breathe.

“Hey,” Akaashi says almost like a whisper.

“Hey.” Bokuto wills his voice to stay steady. Akaashi’s body molds itself around Bokuto’s muscled side and arm in a way that is making him melt. He’s going to short-circuit for sure—

“And then—we all heard it okay, it was the most disgusti—”

“…”

“—Loudest possible sort of crunch sound ever! And he turns around,” Kuroo gesticulates vaguely in Aone’sdirectlion. “He looks at his hand!” Kuroo grips Aone’s hand in his and everyone at the table holds a collective scream even though the middle blocker has been healed for weeks now. “And he just—shrugs! He shrugs and walks off the court in complete silence!” In his drunken tale-telling, Kuroo fails to notice that the table has fallen silent. The team turns to the head of the table, a collection of smiles on their faces and once Kuroo has finally caught on, he joins them in that.

“Ya-hoo~” Oikawa’s cheerful voice cut through the anticipation. “This is him, this is Iwa-chan!” Oikawa gestures to the buff man beside him. “Say hi, Iwa-chan!” A hiccup in communication occurs and both the entire team and Iwaizumi greet each other at the same time, a large group of men saying the embarrassing nickname, drowning out Iwaizumi’s hello. They all burst out laughing, even Iwaizumi, and the evening really kicks off.

  
Soon after the arrival, the colossal amount of food everyone ordered gets here. The waitress notices the new arrivals to the table and offers them menus. Oikawa refuses at first, saying someone has to help the team rectify their life choices but Iwaizumi lightly smacks the back of his head and thanks the waitress for the menus before ordering the best dishes the restaurant has to offer.

“That’s a seasoned employee for you!” Says Makki drunkenly, moaning around a particularly good bite that he stole from Oikawa’s plate. They all drink and laugh and have way too much to eat and thank the staff for placing them at the back where they worry less, although Daichi still worries about how loud they’re being.

“Oof.” Akaashi makes a cute sound, holding his wide tummy in both hands like he’s trying to weigh it. It still spills out at the front. Bokuto is too tipsy to blush, he’s already as red as he’s gonna get, but if he could he would.

“Getting full?” Akaashi nods. Bokuto looks at the quarter plate he has left. “You don’t have to finish you know.” He says as he takes another bite from his own almost empty plate. Akaashi looks up at him with a glint in his eyes that reminds Bokuto of volleyball.

“No.” He says simply. “And then,” He takes a bite. “We’re getting dessert.”

Bokuto doesn’t argue. They finish their plates and then about half of the team gets a variety of desserts. Most of them get another round of wine and beer but Akaashi doesn’t so Bokuto doesn’t either.

“Not interested?” He asks.

“Saving room.” Akaashi answers simply. They swap bites of cream and chocolate and Bokuto loops the words ‘indirect kiss’ in his head for a few solid minutes before it registers that some of his team members have gotten up and are getting ready to leave.

“Are you coming with us, Bokuto-san?” Goshiki asks enthusiastically. He sounds at least somewhat sobered up.

“Where to?”

“We’re going dancing at the disco on the other side of the resort!” Bokuto looks at Akaashi who shrugs.

“I think we’re good.” Bokuto smiles. “You go on ahead.”

“Okay!”

In the distance Bokuto hears Kuroo’s chants of “Let’s go dance off all that food!” and Makki’s replies of “I'm just going because I like to dance, asshole!!” They finish their desserts. Once the team has filed out, it’s just Bokuto and Akaashi and a long empty table and Bokuto realizes he hasn’t been alone with Akaashi since he introduced himself. He wants to say something, but he’ll probably just end up saying hey again—

Akaashi kisses him.

“Let’s go for a walk.” He says and drags Bokuto out of the restaurant with him. It feels weird to not have to pay on the way out, but Bokuto has no room to think about that when his head is filled with Akaashi, Akaashi, Akaashi.

The night air feels good on his face. He tugs on his collar with his free hand and undoes the top few buttons. His other hand feels clammy but Akaashi doesn’t seem to care. He weaves their fingers together and leads Bokuto down a path through the trees. It’s dark but there are little lights all along the path, just enough that Bokuto can see the outline of Akaashi’s rounded shoulders and a dark spot where his hair is. Then, the trees open up and the texture under Bokuto’s shoes suddenly changes. He can hear the waves.

“Look up,” Akaashi says with a clear smile in his voice.

Woah.

Bokuto has seen his fair share of stars. He’s been to rural Japan, and he’s been to Brazil. He’s looked at stars on the beach before, last week even. But he wasn’t holding anyone’s hand back then and that makes all the difference. To know that Akaashi has been here longer than him, memorized this little path to this part of the beach where the lights from the resort are dimmer and the constellations are so much clearer. He can’t believe he’s sharing this moment with him, that the person he felt so much attraction for at first sight is holding his hand and they’re alone on a beach looking at an infinity of stars together. Bokuto’s throat gets tight and he coughs, once.

“Hm?” He can feel Akaashi shift to look at him.

“Nothing,” Bokuto says quietly, squeezes his hand, once.

They stay there standing for an amount of time that neither of them could measure. Then they walk on the beach slowly to accommodate for the darkness. Bokuto is usually so eager to chat, but he can’t get himself to break the mood. He feels himself sobering up as they go, he can feel the warmth leaving his cheeks to join the heat in his chest. It feels like they’ve been walking forever when Akaashi tugs on his hand and starts turning away from the sea. They find another path in the trees and soon they’re standing in front of one of the colorful buildings.

“This is where my room is.” Akaashi says simply. “Would you like to come in?” Bokuto says yes a little bit too loudly and gets to hear Akaashi’s quiet laugh for the second time that day. Akaashi leads them up the stairs and Bokuto gets to have a nice long look at his ass and hips. He can feel his pants tighten but he doesn’t want to put pressure on the situation so he takes a few deep breaths to calm down.

“Bokuto-san.” They take their shoes off in the dark before Akaashi turns a low light on.

“Akaashi.” Bokuto says as an affirmation, but with a question in it.

“I…” Akaashi gestures to the loveseat and Bokuto realizes that his room is much fancier than his own. He moves a decorative cushion and sits. Akaashi tosses the cushion to the floor and kneels on the couch next to him, facing him with his hands folded in his lap.

“Hm?” Bokuto makes a prompting sound but it gets caught in his throat on the way out.

“I…” Akaashi lifts a hand and trails it down Bokuto’s neck, down the bare triangle of skin where he unbuttoned his shirt earlier. “Want you.” He looks Bokuto in the eyes and punctuates his statement by unbuttoning the next button on his shirt. Bokuto swallows audibly, mouth suddenly dry.

“’Want you too.” He says. Akaashi leans up to kiss him, scooting closer on the couch. He circles his soft arms around Bokuto’s neck and Bokuto places his hands on his waist, lightly at first, gripping harder and sinking his fingers in between the rolls on his sides when Akaashi sucks on his tongue. Akaashi plays with the hairs behind his neck and Bokuto shivers. He pulls him closer and Akaashi straddles his lap. He moans an ungodly sound into Akaashi’s mouth at the sensation of being surrounded by those warm thighs, Akaashi’s still stuffed belly pushes against Bokuto’s abs. Akaashi keeps the air conditioning in his room pretty low and Bokuto can feel himself sweating already. He’s glad they sobered up outside because his head is already spinning too. Akaashi breaks their kiss to breathe and Bokuto takes the opportunity to attack Akaashi’s neck, leaving big open mouth kisses all over the smooth skin before sucking a nice big hickey on the junction between Akaashi’s neck and shoulder. Akaashi digs his nails into Bokuto’s back and Bokuto pulls back.

“Is this okay?” Bokuto asks with his lips puffed up from the ministrations.

“Yes.” Akaashi answers firmly with a fire in his voice.

“Is there anything that you want?” Bokuto punctuates his question with a squeeze at one of Akaashi’s love handles but gets shy about it and looks away with a blush. Akaashi takes his face by the chin and makes him look at him.

“You.” His eyes are smoldering and Bokuto feels like he might die. It could be because he wants this so much or because he doesn’t always believe in himself, but he just needs to be extra sure.

“Yeah?” He tries to prompt without prompting. Akaashi seems to sense what he’s after.

“Yes. I want you, Bokuto Koutarou that I just met today in this place so far from home. I want you on me, in me, inside me, on top of me.” Akaashi grips his collar and whispers against his lips. “You’re really hot.” He trails his other hand up and down Bokuto’s deltoid. “You’re ripped.” He strokes his cheek. “You’re really cute.” He pulls back so he can look him in the eyes. “You’re an excellent volleyball player, the best I’ve ever seen.” Bokuto is only a little bit embarrassed to admit that his dick jumps up at that in particular. Clearly Akaashi can feel it because he cracks a grin and licks his lips. “You have my full, mostly sober now consent.”

“S-same.” Bokuto stutters out and that’s all Akaashi needs to slide off of Bokuto’s lap onto the floor. He places the cushion from earlier under his knees and makes quick work of Bokuto’s fly. He only pushes his boxers down the minimum amount it takes to comfortably pull Bokuto’s dick out, but he does take the time to unbutton the rest of Bokuto’s shirt so he can see his abs clench when he takes him in his mouth.

“Akaa—” Bokuto stuffs his fist in his mouth as Akaashi takes all of him in one go and hollows his cheeks. It can’t last very long and he sees Akaashi’s shoulders spasm once before Akaashi pulls himself mostly off to suck on his head, tongue stroking his underside. This is already the best blowjob of Bokuto’s life. Akaashi bobs his head up and down and squeezes Bokuto’s thighs with his hands. Bokuto still has his fist in his mouth, his other hand clenching the arm of the couch. Akaashi takes the hand that’s trying to silence him and places it in his hair.

“Don’t tug too hard,” He says, mouthing the base of Bokuto’s erection. “But you can pull a little bit.” He licks a stripe up Bokuto’s shaft and Bokuto lets himself feel the silky black locks between his fingers. When Akaashi lowers himself down again, taking most of Bokuto in his mouth, Bokuto can’t help but tug, not too hard but hard enough. Akaashi moans around him and Bokuto can no longer be held responsible for any of the sounds he makes. Akaashi sneaks a hand up while Bokuto’s eyes are still closed and pushes on Bokuto’s abdomen, feeling his muscles and the roundness of his full stomach underneath. It probably shouldn’t, but it makes Bokuto feel absolutely amazing and he keens into the touch, rolling his hips into Akaashi’s mouth and arching his back until he’s looking at the wall behind his head.

They manage to keep this up for a while, Akaashi edging Bokuto as long as he can before Bokuto comes with a quick warning, partly in Akaashi’s mouth and partly on his face.

“I’m sorry,” Bokuto gasps for air. “You’re so good…”

“Thank you.” Akaashi licks his lips and wipes the rest of his face with the back of his hand, then smears some of Bokuto’s cum down his own abs. He smirks a little and Bokuto sinks deeper into the couch. They stay like that for a few minutes. Akaashi traces cum patterns on Bokuto’s muscles and Bokuto looks down at him with the most fond expression Akaashi has ever received. Akaashi legs eventually start getting numb so he stands, pushing himself up using Bokuto’s knees. “C’mon.” He says, and tugs on Bokuto’s hand. Bokuto’s pants and boxers pool around his ankles and he steps out of them, shucking his dress shirt on the floor too.

They stop at the foot of Akaashi’s bed, Bokuto fully naked and Akaashi still fully dressed.

“Can I take this off?” Bokuto fingers the hem of Akaashi’s shirt, slips one of his hands underneath. If the fabric is soft, Akaashi’s skin underneath is even softer. Akaashi nods and Bokuto takes his time, dragging the garment up slowly. It gets caught for a moment on the overhang of Akaashi’s belly, then springs up, causing Akaashi’s flesh to bounce. He lifts his arms and Bokuto tosses the shirt behind him near his own clothes.  
Bokuto has to take a moment. Akaashi is stunning. Bokuto realizes that he hasn’t been this close to Akaashi with his shirt off since he saw him get out of the pool on his second day here. He’s so. Perfect. Bokuto can’t help but take a small step back, to get a better look. He glances back up at his face first, to check, to be sure, and Akaashi isn’t self-conscious at all. He has a light smirk on his face like he’s making fun of Bokuto for being so taken with him, but gently, if that’s even a thing. Encouraged, Bokuto drinks him in.

“Okay,” Akaashi finally says after a while. He steps forward and presses himself to Bokuto’s naked body and. Okay. “Let’s move this to the bed.” Akaashi reaches around and grabs his ass, pulling him closer into him and okay. Okay. Bokuto almost comes from that alone. He drops his head on Akaashi’s shoulder.

“Okay.” He says with the shakiest voice he’s ever heard himself have.

  
Akaashi gently turns them around, makes sure the back of Bokuto’s legs are touching the bed so he knows where he is in space, then pushes him down. Bokuto’s body bounces once then settles on the sheets. He lifts himself up on his elbows to get a better view of Akaashi taking his pants off. Akaashi’s bare thighs are a national treasure both to Japan and to Hawaii. He’s still wearing underwear, completely black, too short to be boxer briefs but too long to be panties. He crawls on top of Bokuto but ignores him for a minute and reaches above his head to turn on the bedside lamp. His stomach brushes against Bokuto’s face and a small sound is ripped from the athlete’s throat.

“I…” Bokuto is as red as a beet when Akaashi lowers himself back down to sit on his outstretched legs.

“It’s okay,” Akaashi runs a hand through his hair. “It’s cute.”

“O-okay.” Akaashi kisses him and he kisses back and forgets to be embarrassed pretty quickly. They run their hands all over each other feeling muscles and curves, hard edges and soft planes, sun kissed skin and dry elbows. They leave kiss marks and bite marks and nail marks, getting more and more heated. They grab handfuls of each other, leaving little finger-sized bruises. They grind against each other, setting a rhythm and then breaking it, going faster and then stopping for a few seconds when they go too fast.

“You can,” They’re both breathing hard. Akaashi grinds down once, pointedly against Bokuto’s stiff erection. “You can do me, if you want.” Bokuto’s eyes were half-lidded but he snaps them open.

“I. Yes!” He starts patting the bed around him like he’s looking for something. “I can. How do you like to be—”

“I don’t really need to be prepared.” Akaashi gestures with his head to the nightstand where a sleek freshly cleaned dildo had been resting all along.

“Oh!” Bokuto’s cheeks are dusted pink, and he can’t help but imagine now, Akaashi sprawled out on this very bed, maybe he’d prop his butt up with a pillow and—In other news, Akaashi is totally the type of person to pack a dildo in his suitcase on an international flight.

“I got bored yesterday.” Akaashi explains it away. “Should still be good.” He adds with a shrug.

“Well! Um. I have like twelve condoms in my pocket if I can get to my pants…” Akaashi smiles, or maybe laughs, with his eyes. “…I brought like three boxes…” He whispers.

“Did you expect to get with a lot of people?” Akaashi is teasing, but in a way that makes it clear that he thinks Bokuto could do that, if he wanted to. The future Olympian blushes furiously.

“I. Maybe? But.” He can’t quite meet Akaashi’s eyes but he manages to say. “I only want to get with you though.” Akaashi is genuinely flattered. He gives Bokuto a kiss on the cheek then leans over to the table, pushing his body further onto Bokuto, and pulls a  
single condom out of the drawer. He places it in Bokuto’s hand. “Well then,” Bokuto seems to get his bearings. He puffs his chest out like a peacock and grins. “Let’s get this party started!” Akaashi snorts but still lets himself get manhandled down to the mattress.

Bokuto makes quick work of his underwear and Akaashi’s cock springs free. Bokuto litters Akaashi’s lower half with kisses, on his thighs, his lower belly, the little roll of fat over his cock, everywhere. He’s tempted to give Akaashi a blowjob too, his dick is really pretty, but he manages to stay on task. There’s a bit of negotiation to be done with the position, between things that Akaashi likes and Bokuto’s apparent desire to stare at his face the entire time, but they manage to find something they both enjoy. Bokuto is endearingly gentle when he enters him, but is quickly persuaded to up his pace.

“F-fuuuck, Agkaaaashii~” He moans out, gripping Akaashi’s hips, watching his body ripple with every thrust. It’s mesmerising to watch and he has to look away or close his eyes sometimes to make sure he can last long enough.

“B-Bokuto-san.” Akaashi moans into the sheets, face pressed into the mattress.

He convinced Bokuto to use his favourite position in exchange for the view he knows he’s getting now. He can also feel his body move with each of Bokuto’s thrusts too and he’d be lying if he said there wasn’t something erotic about it. He feels exposed with his ass in the air like that, and kind of daring. He knows the politics at play with loving the body he’s in and the things he does in it, is acutely aware of it in his daily life. It’s always nice to know he’s being desired and if it’s by a total dreamboat he met that morning, one that’s kind and cute and plays a mean game of volleyball, well that’s kind of the best.

Bokuto leans forward, supporting himself with one arm on Akaashi’s back. With his other hand he reaches under Akaashi’s belly and gives that little private roll a squeeze before grabbing his dick and pumping in time with his movements. That doesn’t quite get the reaction he wanted and he’s worried about the new angle for a moment but on the second thrust in the new position Akaashi lets out a deep long moan and Bokuto knows he’s doing something right. Akaashi moans with every thrust after that and Bokuto has a better idea of what’s going on.

“H-harder—” Akaashi gets cut off by Bokuto complying to his demand, hard. “C-close.”

“Me too,” Bokuto whispers out roughly, his throat raw from his harsh breathing. He’s leaning over at an awkward angle for his lower back, hovering about three inches over Akaashi and trying to keep his body weight off of Akaashi’s own back, but he’s pretty sure he discovered the perfect angle to hit his prostate every time. Bokuto decides to place more trust in his own abs and takes his hand off of Akaashi’s back. Instead he slides it down his side and up his abdomen to grab at Akaashi’s chest. He pounds forward, feeling the strain in his thighs, and thumbs Akaashi’s nipple with one hand and the head of his dick with the other. He hears the best sound that exists probably and feels Akaashi come by the clenching heat around him and a wetness on his hand. It takes nothing after that, Bokuto gives one more thrust and finally lets himself fall onto Akaashi, biting at a back roll when he comes.

They collapse, sweaty and glowing and perfect. They kiss, soft and sloppy, and after a few minutes Akaashi gets a wet towel and cleans them off. He pulls the condom off of Bokuto’s dick and Bokuto is trying his best not to pass out, to be a good after-sex partner, but he can feel himself nodding off. Akaashi quietly turns the lights off and they curl into each other, satisfied.

 

DAY 4 OF 8

 

When Bokuto wakes up, the room is still dark. True to himself, no matter what time it might have been when they fell asleep, there he is, awake at what must be four or five in the morning. He wraps his arms more tightly around Akaashi’s form only to realize that the person he’s holding isn’t lying down at all.

“Good morning.” Akaashi peeks down at him over the edge of a tablet. He’s sitting in bed next to Bokuto who is holding on to his waist. The glow from his device is at a funny angle but he’s still beautiful. He shuts it off and sets it down beside him, then runs his fingers through Bokuto’s hair.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Bokuto asks, his eyes closing of their own volition. He can feel Akaashi shrugging.

“No, I’m just an early riser.” He looks at the clock. “You?”

“Me too, I usually get up when it’s still dark and go for a run.”

“Hmm.” Bokuto opens his eyes again when Akaashi stops petting his head. He can feel him shift and momentarily has to let go of him so the other can reposition himself, lying back down under the covers, facing Bokuto. “What about a different kind of exercise?” He strokes a hand down Bokuto’s chest and Bokuto shivers.

It doesn’t take more than a suggestion to get Bokuto going.

Bokuto keens into the touch, rolls his body forward like he’s molding himself to Akaashi, into him. He feels different, softer, pliant from sleep and something else. It dawn on him that they’re probably both softer because they finally digested all the food they had the night before. Bokuto is overcome with the urge to touch Akaashi, everywhere but especially that big soft belly. He feels him against his torso, hugs him closer, kisses down his neck to leave a few marks on top of yesterday’s, but he’s not sure. If that’s something Akaashi would want or be okay with or—Bokuto flips them so he’s straddling Akaashi, slotting their dicks together and pinning his wrists lightly against the mattress. Outside the sun is starting to rise and Akaashi looks—

“Beautiful.” He whispers out loud and it’s a slip of the tongue but he’s not embarrassed. Akaashi is smiling at him so softly. His hair is fanned out like a raven hallo against his white pillow case. His skin glows in the reddish light. Bokuto strokes his wrist with his thumb and just admires him. “You’re stunning.” He says reverently.

“You’re pretty handsome yourself,” Akaashi says in a tone that implies he thinks even more of him than that. Bokuto rolls his hips and Akaashi bites his lip and Bokuto can’t help but bend down and kiss him senseless. Akaashi grinds his hips up and his tummy sloshes between them. Bokuto moans and one of his hands wanders down of its own accord, stroking his side, dipping in between the rolls to stroke the even softer skin there. He grabs a handful of Akaashi’s overhang and gives an experimental squeeze. He can feel Akaashi grin against his lips and does it again. Akaashi pulls back, eyes heavy with lust. He pushes down on one of Bokuto’s shoulders, trying to guide his hand.

“You can do whatever you want, you know.” He says. Bokuto wants to ask questions, wants Akaashi to elaborate, wants to dip his head down and motorboat that beautiful belly, but his throat is dry and his muscles are tense. Akaashi finally grabs the hand that’s still on him by the wrist and moves it around, pressing it into him. “Touch me however you’d like.”

“Okay.” Bokuto swallows hard and nods He doesn’t need to be told twice. He sits up, feels the need to roll his hips once, twice just to make sure that Akaashi is still having a nice time. He has no frame of reference for what it might feel to be on the receiving end of what he yearns to do. One time a girl he was with traced all the little lines between his abs and he thought he was going to throw up. He hopes that this won’t be that. Bokuto carefully lays his palms on the swell of Akaashi’s belly. He strokes the soft skin experimentally, following the curves of his partner’s body. He does it again, pressing a little bit harder. He presses down the center and Akaashi laughs. He does it again and Akaashi bats his hand away.

“Here,” Akaashi takes his belly in his own hands and sloshes it around. He wiggles it and bounces it and rubs it. It’s mesmerizing to watch. There’s something so erotic about watching Akaashi play with himself in that way. It wouldn’t be sexual for just anybody, but for them it is. It’s intimate and exhibitionist at the same time, and he really enjoys doing it which is. So Sexy. “See?” Akaashi lifts his belly up, urging Bokuto to take it back.

Bokuto can’t really believe the situation he’s in. That he’s with this almost stranger, that they hit it off so quickly, that they seem mutually smitten, compatible, interested. That he gets to be doing this right now. He copies some of the things that Akaashi did to see how they feel. He’s so soft. The sun is still rising, changing the colours and patterns in the room, adding more details to their figures. Bokuto can see now the little stretch marks he felt on Akaashi the night before. He can’t help himself and bends down to kiss them. The tip of his nose sinks into the flesh and he presses in more, gives Akaashi open mouthed kisses, uses his hands to bring more of his belly to his face. He hears Akaashi moan that beautiful sound and remembers to roll his hips. Akaashi cries out.  
Suddenly Bokuto is seeing the ceiling instead of Akaashi’s skin, his breath lightly knocked out. There’s a hand around his dick and god, he’s probably the hardest he’s ever been in his entire life. Akaashi’s hand pumps him and Bokuto tries to sit up a bit, so he can see him. He manages to be just in time to watch Akaashi tear the condom wrapper with his teeth. “Bokuto-san.” They lock eyes when Akaashi notices him watching.

“Akaashi.” Bokuto is a little bewildered, a little starstruck.

Akaashi lowers himself onto Bokuto, spreading himself with his hands. Bokuto still can’t quite process what’s happening, but he braces himself solidly with his hands so he’s fully sitting up in the middle of the bed. Once Bokuto is comfortably nestled into Akaashi, the raven grabs hold of his shoulders and starts lifting himself back up. In this position, his thighs look even more plush, Bokuto can see the thin sheen of sweat on his skin, and most importantly, he can look at Akaashi’s face as much as he wants.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous.” Bokuto states very bluntly, his face open, his eyes drinking him in. Akaashi lifts one of his hands from Bokuto’s shoulders to grab at his neck and push their faces together. They make out almost furiously as Akaashi picks up the pace, bouncing on Bokuto’s lap in a more or less coherent rhythm.

They don’t last very long. In the heat of the moment, Bokuto feels himself already very close and transfers his weight to one hand so the other can help Akaashi along. He never makes it to destination. Akaashi grabs his hand and redirects it to his belly, right above his navel where Bokuto can feel every ripple of his flesh with every movement of his hips and thighs. Bokuto gives him a firm squeeze and they both come, one after the other. Akaashi slumps on top of him and Bokuto holds him in his arms while he catches his breath. It’s a tender moment. Bokuto feels closer to Akaashi now than he did just moments ago. The sun is fully up but he could probably fall back asleep now. He feels really quite content.

  
“Oh! Owwwowowow—” Akaashi suddenly pulls himself off of Bokuto’s very tender dick and stands up to dance around with a comical grimace on his face. “Cramp.” He says to explain. Bokuto grins sympathetically. He delicately pulls his condom off and wraps it in a hotel tissue. Meanwhile, Akaashi calms down and it eventually goes away. “Coffee?” He asks and Bokuto nods enthusiastically.

Akaashi has a kitchenette in his room, and a private washroom, and the loveseat from yesterday. Bokuto’s room isn’t anything to sneeze at but it’s pretty standard in comparison. Really he would have taken anything over having to share a room full of stacked metal beds with his entire team the way they had been set up in Brazil. They put on the bare minimum of clothes and Akaashi makes them coffees and directs them to the balcony—he has a balcony—where they sit in wooden Adirondack chairs and fall into a comfortable silence.

“So!” Bokuto starts after a few sips.

“Hmm?” Bokuto looks up from his mug through his lashes.

“What’s your story?” Bokuto leans forward in his chair, which is hard to do considering it’s an Adirondack. “What do you do, what do you like, where do you live? But not in a creepy way! What makes you… tick?” Bokuto takes another pull from his coffee while he waits for Akaashi to answer.

“I live in Tokyo,” Akaashi starts with the simplest thing, “I manage my parents’ company,” Akaashi wants to give Bokuto quality answers, but he seems to be struggling a little bit. “I like to travel.” He says with a small smile. “I like volleyball a lot,” He gives Bokuto a conspirator’s smirk. “I got an injury in high school, in my graduating year, a few weeks before the Spring Tournament. I recovered, but by then our team had lost and universities stopped looking at me for sport reasons.” Bokuto makes sure Akaashi has said everything he wanted to before replying.

“I live in Tokyo too! Which part?”

“Roppongi Hills.”

“Oooh cool,” Had Bokuto been the type to care about things like money or how posh someone was, now would have been the time to show it, but he really didn’t. He noticed, sure, but he didn’t really care. “I grew up in Sangenjaya but I live in Den-en-chōfu with the rest of the team now.”

“That’s just a short train ride away, isn’t it?”

“I think so,” Bokuto agreed, maybe a little—a lot—hopeful. “Do you get to travel a lot?”

“I travel for work mostly, but then I also take off whenever I have time off—like the past two weeks.” He says. They talk for a long time. Bokuto finds out that Akaashi’s parents own a design firm and that he gets to do whatever he wants with the place as long as it’s doing well, since all his parents really wanted to do was design, not own a multi-trillion yen corporation. It works for him because he was getting a master’s in commerce anyway, and with Japan’s weird laws, he wouldn’t really have been able to work anywhere else. He says this with a glare and makes sure to mention that disregarding the national hiring policy was one of the first things he did when he took over. Bokuto is kind of shocked to learn that such a weird policy even exists, as if BMI means anything about anything.

They talk about other stuff like volleyball and yesterday’s game, the look on Oikawa’s face and how wild it is that they never met before. They talk about their parents, about their childhoods, the pets they’ve had, the foods they like, where they see themselves in ten years. Bokuto has been in lust at first sight before, but it’s never been this intense and he’s never liked the person this much once he met them. He’s not sure what to do, but it’s a good feeling that he wants to pursue. Eventually his stomach growls and they decide to go to breakfast together.

“Oh!” Bokuto looks around the room, one foot in a shoe and the other in the air, balancing precariously.

“What’s wrong?”

“I um.” Bokuto looks pointedly at his feet. “I lost one of my shoes.”

Akaashi looks at him like he is cataloguing him then snorts. They look for the shoe a little bit but it’s a lost cause. Clearly he lost it along the walk to the room, probably on the beach somewhere. Akaashi lends him a pair of sandals and they make their way to the breakfast buffet. Akaashi stops to take pictures twice. The second time, Bokuto stops to take a picture of him too.

“Hey!” Akaashi scolds him playfully.

“What!” Bokuto quickly tucks his phone away and tries to feign innocence.

When they finally get there, breakfast is almost over. They run into some of the team and chat over eggs. Bokuto is glowing. His teammates take turns elbowing him and kicking him under the table which Akaashi apparently finds amusing, if his eyes are anything to go by. They finish as quickly as possible and head to the beach where the rest of the team is not really waiting, sunbathing and day drinking. Bokuto gets dragged into snorkeling and Akaashi gets tentatively approached by Tsukki to talk about scientific podcasts. It feels a little weird to be apart right now, but it’s also a good chance to process everything. Bokuto thinks of Akaashi while looking at the fish, trying to figure out which one looks more like Kuroo and which one is more Goshiki.  
They meet again an hour later to do a beer run for the team. They lean against the bar in the very spot where Bokuto stood when he first saw Akaashi. To celebrate, Bokuto grabs Akaashi by the waist while they wait for all their drinks to be poured and dips him to kiss him. Someone whoops in the distance. They finally get their trays of little beer cups when the team collectively decides to relocate to the pool.

“Hey hey hey, Akaashi!” Bokuto takes a little glass and brings it up between them. Akaashi mirrors him to see what will happen. Bokuto cheers their glasses together and chugs his. “Think we can finish these before they leave us behind?” Akaashi looks behind his shoulder at Kuroo trying to cram a giant book in a tiny bag, Yaku running behind everyone to give them things they were about to leave behind, Oikawa throwing Makki a handful of sand.

“Yes.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again so soon! I decided I would rather post the other half of the story now than 2 weeks from now but in exchange I don't have much art to link to, so please go follow squishylotus on tumblr for soon-to-come illustrations from this story! (You can even request which moments you want to see!) 
> 
> A reminder that the playlist can be found here: https://8tracks.com/manialoll/distances
> 
> (And a note that the ADHD medication side effect wasn't pulled out of a hat and happened to my aunt more than once)

 

DAY 5 OF 8

 

“Are you alright, Bokuto-san?”

“Y-yeah, I think I’m alright.”

Bokuto tries to peel himself off of the pool chair but his head threatens to split open so he gently lowers himself back down. He cracks an eye open to take in his surroundings. They’re at one of the pools, one without a waterfall. Akaashi is sitting on the chair next to him, facing him and wearing different clothes than earlier.

“Kuroo-san?”

Bokuto hears a groan from behind him and tries to turn his head softly enough to avoid the inevitable pounding.

“How are you holding up, pain-in-the-ass-Kuroo-san?” Akashi drawls. Another groan and a vague gesture. Akaashi sighs and moves to get up. In a sickeningly quick motion, Bokuto grabs his hand.

“Are you leaving us, Akaashi?” There’s a tremble of desperation there that could just be from sleep or might be cause for actual concern.

“Just for a moment, Bokuto-san, I’m going to get you two some water and medicine.” Akaashi explains. “Anything else you might need?”

“Oh!” Bokuto lunges forward in his seat and immediately regrets it. “My pills! I probably feel extra wonky because I forgot to take my pill yesterday!” He looks at Akaashi. “Would you mind getting that too? The bottle is on my dresser, it's orange.”

“No problem, do you have your keys?”

It’s a bit of a search for those keys but when they finally find them in Bokuto’s pocket (“I swear I couldn’t feel them there!”) Akaashi heads off and Kuroo and Bokuto are left by themselves to assess the damage. They sit quietly for a while. The sun is burning Bokuto’s shins and he realizes that only half of his body is in the shade and the other half, mainly his legs and feet, is sunburnt.

“What happened?” Bokuto finally asks. Kuroo is sitting up already and rubbing the indents in his back left by the chair using his freakishly long arms and incredible flexibility. Kuroo hums and that can’t be good.

“Well,” He starts.

“Well??”

“Give me a minute, I’m hungover too you know?” Bokuto drums his fingers on the plastic chair until Kuroo can collect himself enough to speak again. “We were moving to the pool, it was a bit before noon. You and Akaashi drank all those tiny beers, and some visiting locals were telling us that on resorts drinks are usually watered down, so we got a tray of shots to see what would happen. We didn’t feel that much so we got two more, and then the animators were hosting drinking games so we went to those. You and I were facing off and then you got that look on your face that you get when you forget to take your meds and you realize what happened, and you were about five minutes from falling asleep so I took you here to nap.”

“Thanks Kuro.”

“No problem, Kou.”

“So how did you end up here too and why didn’t anyone wake me up?”

“Well…” Kuroo blushes. “You were napping for a long time. I made my way back to the team, they were holding Akaashi hostage so he was with us too, and then we were drinking more, like way more than we would back home, and playing limbo, and did you know that Akaashi is really flexible?” Kuroo looked at Bokuto’s face. “Of course you do, nevermind. And eventually we all got hungry, we went for supper, drank a bunch of wine, I was stumbling to my room when I saw that you were still sleeping here and I was about to wake you up but then…” Kuroo trails off and his face changes, and he looks wistful and then like a kicked puppy and Bokuto just wants to hug him but he knows that if he stands up too fast he’ll just throw up on his best friend instead.

“And then what?” He asks instead, hoping that his concern comes across.

“Nothing, I just sat down and fell asleep next to you.”

“Oh, okay.” Bokuto knows that that can’t be the full story and Kuroo knows that he knows, but they don’t have enough energy to hash all that out yet and beside, Akaashi is coming back now with their waters and their pills.

 

 

 

“I think that maybe Akaashi is kind of like a cat.”

“Elaborate?”

Bokuto and Daichi are tanning on the beach. Normally Bokuto wouldn’t be down to stay this still for this long, but he needs to do something about how uneven the fronts of his legs have become from the rest of his body. He has his legs tucked under a towel and one of those aluminum sheets with the tiny plastic eye coverings. Next to him Daichi is there for a similar reason. When he got back from Brazil, his partners wouldn’t let him live his tan lines down. Yui and Suga had been so relentless that they had driven him to this trip “to even things out” hoping he would spend at least some time in the sun without his knee pads on. Of course the real reason they sent him away again is because he was and is a ball of nerves and they need him to relax now before the baby comes. Bokuto couldn't really wrap his head around it at first, don't they miss him? But well maybe he gets it if Daichi’s reaction to the suggestion of tanning with baby oil is anything to go by. Bokuto still doesn’t know what a micromort is.

“Well, we met and he took a long time to approach.”

“I think that was a coincidence.”

“But as soon as we started talking, we were inseparable.”

“It’s been two days.”

“But now he’s gone again, like he’s saying ‘I only want to be around you on my terms’ or something. Like a cat.”

“Do you really think that’s something he would think?”

“No. But cats are mysterious and like to be alone sometimes.”

“I think everyone likes to be alone sometimes.”

“I don’t.”

“I think everyone except you likes to be alone sometimes.”

“Kuroo doesn’t.”

“That’s probably why you’re best friends then, isn’t it?”

Bokuto looks up and takes off his little plastic eye covers. He looks for Kuroo on the beach and finds him with Yaku arguing about something at the beach bar. They’re getting pretty theatrical about the whole thing and Bokuto knows from experience that that means they’re having fun.

“Yeah…” Bokuto keeps looking although he doesn’t know what he’s looking for. A cue maybe. A clue. Kuroo and Yaku argue all the time and Kuroo looks just as into it as usual, but when he catches Bokuto looking at him, he pretends to storm off from the argument and throws himself into the ocean. Yaku looks at Bokuto and shrugs, before picking up his novel from the bar.

“Is everything okay with you and Kuroo?”

“I don’t know.”

Daichi might not know when to stop yelling about cancer, the sun, climate change, and micromorts but he does know not to push this.

As it turns out, Akaashi is a little bit like a cat. Bokuto tries his best to not get dejected about it, but the highlight of his vacation is nowhere to be seen all day. The team tries to pull him out of it, and he manages to have an okay time. Between worrying about Akaashi and worrying about Kuroo he has enough to think about that he manages to stay still enough to mostly even out his tan. Daichi swaps places with Makki, then Aone, then Nishinoya, then Yaku, and they all keep him company in their own way, but it’s not enough for Bokuto to not notice that none of them are Kuroo. Or Akaashi. To be honest, Bokuto is starting to worry that he won't see him again now that they've had sex, but it's not the impression he had of him at all.

"I don't have his number and I can't text because of our phone plans." He sighs to Yaku. "I've been looking all day for him but I can't find him anywhere." He thinks for a while. "It would be creepy to just show up at his door, right? I mean I don't even really remember where his room is but like, that would be creepy anyway, right?"

"Definitely." Yaku agrees.

"Yeah, totally creepy." Kuroo agrees in passing. "What are we talking about?"

"Kuro!" Bokuto tries to flag him down but Kuroo doesn't stick around to find out, he just waves at him on his way to Daichi. Bokuto huffs. "Did he seem odd to you earlier?"

"Not really."

"Not even a little bit? We exchanged body language!"

"Well yeah, but I mean, Kuro throws himself into the sea all the time, it wasn't that unusual."

"Hmm..."

For some reason, thinking too much about Kuroo hurts. Bokuto doesn't know what his best friend is thinking, and maybe he rarely does but something about this feels big. Instead, Bokuto looks for Akaashi any chance he gets. He looks for him at lunch, he looks for him on his way to the bathroom, he looks for a dark shape in the pools, or a nice silhouette on the beach, but it's no use. He's starting to thinks he’s getting an up-close look at Oikawa’s feelings from the beginning of their trip. Oikawa is the one who saddles up to him at the end of the day, back in his designated tanning chair.

"Come on!" The captain chides him cheerfully. "We have another reservation tonight, aren't I great?"

"Ooh, what is it?"

"Italian food! So don't go filling up on pasta, oka--" Oikawa catches the glare that Makki is throwing at him from behind Bokuto's chair and stops his train of thoughts. "Let's go put on nice things! Iwaizumi is gonna be there, I'm sure together we can make you look presentable!"

"What's wrong with my usual style?" Bokuto has enough self-awareness to not actually be offended. Oikawa glances down at Bokuto's garrish swim trunks.

"You know what you did."

They have enough fun wrestling Bokuto’s wardrobe with Oikawa’s sensibilities that Bokuto actually forgets for a while that anything was wrong. Instead, he remembers everything good about Oikawa, and what made them such good friends over the years. They first got close by bonding over their feelings against Ushiwaka, but when it turned out that Oikawa's feelings ran deeper than just natural good natured competition, Bokuto got a much closer look at what made him tick. Since then, Bokuto had bonded with Wakatoshi as well, while Oikawa had managed to become somewhere between positive and neutral about him, mostly thanks to Bokuto.

The outfit Oikawa picks is actually quite good and the jokes they crack at each other have them cackling all the way to the restaurant. They're still laughing, clutching their middles when a pair of scuffed dress shoes enters their field of vision and a nice voice coughs.

"Hey there."

Bokuto whips his head up. The shoes belong to Iwaizumi but the voice is one hundred percent Akaashi.

"Hi," Bokuto breathes out. Akaashi is as stunning as always. A light grey shirt brings out his eyes, and little silver chains adorn his ankles bared by cool black capris. They enter the resort restaurant just the four of them, and the waitress calls Akaashi 'Miss'. Bokuto is about to correct her but Akaashi elbows him lightly. He gestures to his capris.

"I wouldn't be able to wear these otherwise." He winks.

Iwaizumi leads them to a long table at the back where a few of their teammates are seated. Akaashi pulls a seat for Bokuto who blushes up into his hair roots. He sits opposite from him this time. They're still with friends, but at the end of the table like this it feels private. Bokuto wants to ask... but maybe he shouldn't? But he really wants to. He really needs to know. The waitress comes back with wine for everyone. He really wants to but instead.

"Did you have fun yesterday?" Bokuto isn't looking at Akaashi when he asks but it's a genuine question, just not his first priority.

"I did, your teammates treated me very well." He smiles at Makki and everyone else and Bokuto is honestly pleased and also pretty relieved.

"Your boy sure can limbo!" Akaashi flinches. The rest of the team is also enthusiastic about him, but Akaashi flinched and Bokuto saw it and.

"Where were you today?" There must have been a thousand better ways to ask but that's what came out, so that's what they have to deal with now. Thankfully Akaashi doesn't take it the wrong way.

"I was at the spa all day actually," He takes a sip of wine. "Iwaizumi has miracle hands." He playfully knocks into the man beside him. "You'll have to try for yourself before you go home." Akaashi smiles. Bokuto's shoulders sag and he audibly breathes out a sigh of relief. "Oh." Akaashi says suddenly and Bokuto looks up. "I should have probably said something about that this morning, I'm sorry." And then. "I'm a bit of a cat sometimes." A few chairs down, Daichi chokes on his water.

The rest of the team is soon to arrive. They drink too much and eat too much and Iwaizumi makes really funny masseuse jokes and Bokuto pretends he can't see the way Oikawa looks at him like he wants to eat him. Meanwhile, any tension that might have existed with Akaashi is gone and any tension that might still be there with Kuroo is thoroughly ignored by both parties. They have cheese instead of dessert even though at least half of them are lactose intolerant and later split off into groups to go dancing, or sleeping or skinny dipping or visiting Iwaizumi's house if you're Oikawa.

"Do you want to come up to my room?" Bokuto asks after most of the team is gone. "Oh shit." He remembers as soon as he offers. "My room is a mess."

“It can’t be worse than what it was this morning”

"What? Oh!" Bokuto vaguely remembers his keys and his pills and a glass of water that felt like a lifeline. "I mean it is worse, Oikawa dressed me."

"You look very nice."

"T-thank you!"

They leave a tip under their plates because that seems like the thing to do and exit the restaurant. The resort is beautiful at night. There are little lights along most of the main paths, and some in the plants. A few trees are wrapped in Christmas lights and they keep the fountains running. Music drifts over from the discotheque. They can't see the sky very well since it's brighter, and it's not as quiet or private as their walk on the beach but it's lively. Bokuto hasn't been paying attention to anyone outside of his team other than Akaashi and the occasional employee but they see a lot of other guests on their way to Bokuto's room and he wonders what brought them all here if they don't have scheming co-captains with long lost childhood friends. Maybe just a passion for travel like Akaashi. Bokuto hesitates for a minute but Akaashi grabs his hand.

"I'm 'Miss' now, remember?" They giggle.

Bokuto's room really is a mess. It's always a mess because Bokuto is the way he is but with the whirlwind that was Oikawa earlier it's impossibly worse. Bokuto opens the door and the action clears a half moon of floor space in its wake. Akaashi laughs and Bokuto's ears zero in on the sound. He loves it as always but he can't help but wonder if Akaashi would still find it funny three years into their relationship when Bokuto was still a mess despite his best intentions and Oikawa came to visit and mess things up even more. Maybe Akaashi would have a personal house cleaner for that? Maybe Bokuto shouldn't think this far ahead.

He pulls Akaashi closer to him, then pushes him lightly against the wall next to the door, stepping on three shirts and a sandal. He wants to clear his head. He wants to obstruct Akaashi's view of his flaws. He wants to grab on to that beautiful body and that beautiful person and forget about everything else. He slots their mouths together and they share a heated kiss, then another. They makeout and Bokuto lets his hands wander from that expansive back to those hips to that ass back up to that lovely waist. Akaashi is into it and Bokuto can feel his hands on him as well, but he pulls away a few minutes in. He grabs Bokuto's hand and leads them to the half-made bed but he just sits them on it next to each other.

"I think I changed my mind about something."

"Oh?" Bokuto tries not to jump to any conclusions but his heart is very suddenly in his throat. "About what?"

"Well..." Akaashi takes a deep breath and Bokuto steels himself for the worst. Sure it could be anything, but it's probably Akaashi breaking up with him. Or. Well. Announcing that he doesn't want to see him again anymore. Calling off whatever it is they have. It takes a lot of will from Bokuto to not interrupt the silence to fill it with what he thinks is happening, to make it happen quicker, to get it over with, rip it off like a bandaid, whatever. "Remember when we first talked?" This is it, Akaashi is going to say that it was all some big mistake, that he was expecting something different, someone different. Maybe he really did just want sex and now he's feeling stuck with Bokuto and all his teammates and-- "Remember when you asked me what my pronouns were?" Oh.

"Yeah?" Well that's a relief.

"I think..." Bokuto is changing gears as fast as he can, trying to go from expecting dumpee to supportive potential partner. "I think I don't want to have male pronouns after all." Akaashi fidgets with the hem of their shirt. "I think... I thinj I need something more neutral afterall." They look into Bokuto's eyes and Bokuto breaks into a big grin. He grabs Akaashi's hands.

"That's great, Akaashi! Thank you for telling me!" Akaashi lightly squeezes his hands and he squeezes right back.

"I wanted to tell you first." They almost whisper.

"Well, I'm honestly honoured."

"I think I knew what I wanted back then. I mean, I've been living like this," Akaashi wiggles their bejeweled ankles. "For a while now, but I wasn't sure what to do about it, if it would be worth it to change anything that involves other people." They pause. "I want to be neutral. I don't really associate with masculinity. Since my accident and my body changes, I've been fairly comfortable being like this and looking this way, but I think I feel differently too and it's time to acknowledge it. I don't need to be a guy if I'm not playing on a guys' volleyball team."

"Yeah!" Bokuto nods. He can't exactly imagine Akaashi's reality but he had a feeling since day one that maybe Akaashi wouldn't be a guy, even when his first impression was seeing them topless on the beach. "I'm happy for you, Akaashi."

"Thank you, Bokuto-san. Me too, I think."

"Is there anything other than pronouns you would like to change? Anything I can do?" They haven't talked about what they are, what they have, how long they'll be in each other's lives. But even if they're only together for five more minutes, if there's something that would make those five minutes better for Akaashi, Bokuto wants to do it.

"Hmm..." Akaashi looks away. "Maybe some sex things."

"Oh?" Bokuto strokes Akaashi's arm with the back of his hand. The other that is still holding on to one of Akaashi's, lifts their hand up and brings it to his lips. He starts by kissing the back of it, then the palm, then in between their thumb and index finger, then between all of their fingers. He's licking up a digit, taking it into his mouth to suck on it, keeping his eyes on Akaashi's blushing face. He pulls the finger out, deliberately leaving a string of spit. "You looked a bit shy so I thought you might want to show not tell."

They go slow, then fast, with bursts of communication in between. Bokuto wants to kiss every inch of Akaashi, but he’s also open and understanding when there are some areas where maybe that’s not such a good idea. He's so proud of them and filled with so much happiness for them. He knows it's a weird feeling that isn't always welcomed, especially from an almost-stranger so he focuses on making Akaashi feel good, on listening, and making their first sex experience in this stated gender non-gender feel the best. He touches them the same as before for some things, and differently for some others. He palms them instead of stroking them and pays more attention to their chest and their ass. He rims them, fucks them, calls out their last name like before. The way Akaashi mewls out his name back makes him see stars.

Later, they push some of Bokuto's jeans off the bed and lay down under the covers. Bokuto positions them so he is spooning Akaashi, one arm under their head, the other draped over their belly. He kisses their silky soft hair and breathes in the salt of the ocean, sunscreen and sweat.

"I really like you Akaashi."

 

DAY 6 OF 8

 

"Okay so I know I basically said I have no regrets about not having to be a boy on a boys' team anymore but I was wondering..."

"Hmm?"

"Could I try on your jersey?"

Bokuto grins. They're sitting in bed at six am in the dark, wide awake and chatting. He hops out of bed and digs out his national jersey from a pile by his suitcase, shakes it in case it has any sand in it. He holds it up in from of himself, then holds it out to Akaashi. The raven stands up as well, examining it, sizing it up. Bokuto turns on a light.

"I think it'll fit..." They mutter. "...it looks so cool..."

"Try it!" Bokuto says excitedly. "Come on, hands up!" Bokuto tries not to examine why he's excited about this, if it's an issue of possessiveness or how tight the garment is sure to be. Akaashi lifts up their soft arms and Bokuto strokes their body with his hands, from their wrists to their waist. He hums appreciatively, then he slides the shirt on. It goes on alright until reaches Akaashi's chest. Their shoulders are about the same, but that's where the similarities end. "Keep your hands up, I'll pull it down." Bokuto says with a smile. He makes it about halfway down Akaashi's torso but the fabric has no stretch at all so that's as far as it'll go. Bokuto takes a step back to look. "It's a really cute crop top, honestly."

"Hmm," Akaashi goes to see for themself in the bathroom mirror. It's a good look, especially with their underwear that looks little black shorts. It's almost like a cheering uniform. "Yeah, it is." They say with a smile. They spend a while in there looking at themself and Bokuto tries to clean up his room a little bit. "I'm going to need your help again to get out of it." Akaashi says upon their return.

"Sure!" Bokuto is eager to agree and be close to them. He crowds Akaashi in, pressing his bare midriff against Akaashi's bulging tummy. "Arms up again," Bokuto pulls it off and tosses it in the general direction of his suitcase, missing by two feet. He bends his head down just a fraction and they're kissing. "Hey, so..." He mouths against Akaashi's lips. "Are we--" Kiss. "Are we spending more time together today?" Kiss.

"Do you want to?" Kiss. Kiss kiss. Tongue.

"Yeah! I mean," Kiss. "I understand if" Kiss. Bottom lip suck.

"No, I want to as well."

They don't come out of Bokuto's room until well after breakfast is over, but when they do they leave it cleaner than they entered it somehow. They get lunch for breakfast and join the team by the upper pool, the only one Bokuto hasn't been in yet. The pool is mostly fairly shallow. When they get there, Nishinoya cannonballs a little too close to where Kuroo is trying to flirt with some girls and starts a splash war, effectively killing all of the middle blocker’s chances. Bokuto and Akaashi jump in the pool and try to take a side but it soon devolves. Someone brought a volleyball again but before anything can be organized, Oikawa manages to climb on Makki's shoulders and declares battle.

“Akaashi!!” Bokuto turns frantically with a big smile on his face, trying to locate his... partner? Lover? Personfriend? His person? Person he hopes to see again, move in with and spend the rest of his life with maybe? “Akaashi, get on my shoulders!” He yells when he finally spots them, back against the side of the pool. Akaashi points at their face like a question and Bokuto answers with a vigorous nod. “Get over here!” Akaashi swims over with a small look of disbelief.

“You want to...?” Akaashi nods to Oikawa and Makki who are currently prowling the waters so Oikawa can loom over his teammates. In the corner of his eye, Bokuto can see Yaku convincing Aone to partake, forming a formidable duo.

“Yes!” Bokuto lowers himself in the water. “Come on!”

Akaashi complies. They try not to question this too much and trust in Bokuto (Their boyfriend? Partner? Friend with benefits? Person they definitely want to see again after this trip?) and his muscles. They have to push Bokuto's head underwater to fully sit on his shoulders but they manage fine. They think it'll be okay probably, and then Bokuto stands up. Bokuto is very strong and Akaashi doesn't weigh very much underwater so it's a much quicker motion than Akaashi was expecting. Suddenly they're hanging on to Bokuto's head over two feet above the water, probably choking him. Bokuto doesn't even grunt.

“Are you okay up there?” Bokuto asks and Akaashi nods, too disoriented to really respond. Akaashi hasn't been on anyone's shoulders since they were a toddler. They tighten their thighs around Bokuto's neck. “Nice,” They can hear Bokuto say under his breath. Akaashi imagines, not in a self-deprecating way, that they probably look a bit like a tree right now, with Bokuto’s body as the trunk and Akaashi’s body as the round foliage on top. Maybe a shrub, since most of Bokuto is underwater. Bokuto walks around at a slow pace and Akaashi slowly uncurls themself from the top of Bokuto’s head. They keep both hands on the top of his head and try not to pull on his hair.

Somewhere behind them, the combination of Yaku and Aone manage to topple over Kuroo and Goshiki. Nishinoya and Daichi have also formed a powerful unit. This isn’t an experience Akaashi can say they've ever had. Their team in high school did normal things like go to the convenience store after practice. Akaashi also kind of didn’t think they’d ever be lifted by someone else like this again. That sort of action had left their realm of possibilities a few years ago.

“Are you ready?”

“What?”

“We’re going to war!”

Bokuto emits some sort of roar? Howl? Sport noise? And charges forward. Akaashi grips harder with all of their limbs, acutely aware that they're going to need to do something soon and completely at a loss for what that will be.

The next thing they know they're in the water.

They must have toppled over somehow. Underwater Akaashi quickly untangles their legs from Bokuto's shoulders so he can resurface quickly. They look back, chlorine stinging their eyes, and meet Bokuto's eyes. He smiles, and despite all of the limbs in the water around them it feels like the early morning, like they're in a world of their own again. Everyone sounds so far away. They naturally float up, eventually breaking eye contact to stand up and breathe. By comparison, everything is very loud again. Someone claps Akaashi on the back and someone else ruffles Bokuto's hair from above. It seems they were taken down by Oikawa and Makki from behind but managed to defeat Nishinoya and Daichi on their way down.

Later in the evening, they’re walking down the beach toward the discotheque, the sun is almost set but it’s still light enough out to see the waves and they're walking with their feet in the water, shoes in hand. Bokuto is off to the side walking with Akaashi and holding hands. They lean toward each other, angling their heads, about to kiss.

"Oh, you look lovely!" Bokuto blurts out. Akaashi raises their eyebrows, and that too is new and wonderful. "You put on mascara, right? It looks really nice." Akaashi relaxes.

"Thank you, Bokuto-san." They lick the corner of their mouth. "The clear lipgloss is new too, but it feels kind of funny."

"Can I see?" Bokuto leans in. He intends to just look at first, but they were going to kiss back then, weren't they? He closes the distance. Akaashi tastes like bananas and Bokuto smiles against their lips.

“Oi, Bokuto!” Bokuto jumps back.

“Y-yes?!” He calls out behind him.

“Is that your shoe?” Noya waves it around. Bokuto looks down at the hand that isn't still locked with Akaashi's at his two shoes and he's about to say no when he notices what Nishinoya is really holding.

"Oh my," Akaashi says humouredly beside him. It's his shoe from three nights ago.

"Hey isn't that--"

"Shut it, Kuro!" Bokuto practically tackles Nishinoya into the ocean to get his shoe back but the shorter player dodges. When he finally gets it, it's soaked and sandy. "Better than nothing," He shrugs and ties the laces of it to one of his belt loops. Akaashi looks at him. "What?" Akaashi giggles and Bokuto tries to ignore the way his ears feel warm.

The discotheque is funny. Bokuto hasn't been yet but it looks exactly like he'd imagined it. It's a bit like a dark nightclub from those American movies had a baby with a hula, also from an American movie. The walls are black with white silhouettes of palm trees. There are tiki lights everywhere, and a strobe light somewhere. The bar takes up the entire back wall. On a stage, a DJ plays tunes straight from the can. True to its name, a huge disco ball hangs from the ceiling, a few of its tiles missing. Already a little tipsy, they go straight to the dancefloor. About a half hour in, Iwaizumi joins them. It's a bit of a relief for everyone who got hit with one of Oikawa's stray limbs when Iwaizumi saddles up behind him and tucks their co-captain into himself, keeping him contained as they sway to the beat. Kuroo disappears somewhere with a few of the straight guys on the team to hit on girls, sliding a hand across Bokuto's back along the way. Bokuto is too distracted to notice.

Of course Akaashi can dance really well. It's unfortunate that Bokuto was asleep when Akaashi was proving their limbo skills to the team, but he thinks he can imagine what that would have been like now. Akaashi is... sultry. With half lidded eyes they wind and grind and walk slow circles around Bokuto whose dancing experience mostly consists of a handful of Brazilian moshpits. He tries to mimic those male figure skaters he's seen on TV that act as coat hangers for their partners' brilliance. He's too focused on Akaashi to really think about moving anyway. Against his hip, his shoe still sprinkles sand onto the floor.

"Oh." Makki breathes out from right behind Bokuto. Bokuto turns his head to look at him but Makki is locked onto someone else.

In the distance, a barman is making his way through the crowd. He's tall, probably as tall as Kuroo. He's darker skinned, with short curly hair and sculpted brows, half lidded eyes and a lazy smile. He waves to Iwaizumi and Makki's heart leaps in his throat. His sleeves are pushed up to his elbows and his waistcoat strains against the cutest belly and love handles. Makki wants to lock eyes with him, wants to take him out back and have his way with him, but they miss each other and the tall mysterious employee goes straight for Iwaizumi. They exchange words that Makki is too far away to hear, and the man heads for the exit. Panicked, Makki turns to Iwaizumi. He closes his mouth, unsure of when he let it open like that, then gestures to get his new friend's attention.

"Is he?? You know?? Can I??" Is he single? Is he not-straight? Can I please fuck your friend?

Iwaizumi nods, and probably laughs, but Makki can't hear him, he just sees his shoulders move. The next thing they know, he's out the door.

 

DAY 7 OF 8

 

It's the last day of any vacation that truly feels like a vacation. Bokuto wakes up at the crack of dawn next to Akaashi and feels lucky. He fondly remembers the amused side-eye Akaashi gave him when Bokuto tried to assure them he could make it to his room on his own, and the sloshed caresses they exchanged before passing out together. Most people probably go on vacation for a short term experience but he’s confident now more than ever that he’ll get to keep this. He can see a future with Akaashi in his life that seems possible and pleasant and something they both want. It’s such an alien feeling. Bokuto has been romantic before, but he’s never been in love before. Feelings of wanting to stand next to someone, spend forever with someone, help someone and be helped, reach new heights together… he’s felt that for Volleyball, for his friends and teammates. Finding someone outside of that is new and thrilling and finally feels within reach. He wants to call his mom and tell her so that she stops telling his sister how much she worries about him.

Akaashi isn't awake yet, probably because they're hungover. Their breathing is steady. It makes Bokuto's head rise and fall on their chest, almost enough to lure him back to sleep. He would give in, but then, at seven in the morning sharp, there's a knock at the door. Bokuto makes sure he's wearing shorts and that Akaashi is covered enough with a blanket before answering.

"Yeah?" He rubs his eyes, not sure who to expect.

"Hey." The sound of that voice, usually comforting, shocks Bokuto awake. "Get dressed, we're going for a run." Kuroo pushes Bokuto back into his room and shuts himself out in the hallway. Bokuto stares at the door for a long time before finally moving to find a shirt. In his periphery he sees Akaashi stirring awake. He shoves his meds in his pocket and grabs his room keys before sitting beside them.

"I'm going for a run with Kuro, you don't have to hurry, the door will lock behind you. Is that okay?" Akaashi looks like they might be sick. "Umm..." Bokuto quickly pours them a glass of water and gets them headache medicine. "Are you going to be okay?"  
"Yeah," Their voice is thick but they mean it. "Have fun." They kiss Bokuto's cheek and he feels blessed.

"Thank you 'Kaashi, I will!" He makes sure to close the door gently for the sake of Akaashi's pounding head. In the hallway, Kuroo looks like he's trying to stay angry. He can't.

"I hadn't realized you had company."

"Oh. Um. Yeah."

"Let's go."

They start their run in silence which isn't unusual for the two of them. Kuroo likes to talk and Kuroo doesn't like to be alone, but he isn't really a morning person. Around them, the resort is quietly waking up. He's charismatic, but with Bokuto he doesn't usually bother until at least noon. This time though, Bokuto feels like he needs to push it or they won't get anywhere. He still doesn't know where somewhere would be, but it's feeling more urgent to get there with every passing day. If nothing else, they can't go back to playing together if they have this much unspoken tension between them.

"So," He says between measured breaths. "How is your vacation going?" It feels weird to have to ask.

"Good."

"Are you liking the resort?"

"Yeah."

"Did you make any friends?"

"No." Bokuto wants to chop his own hand off and slap Kuroo with it but then his best friend elaborates. "I mean. Iwaizumi is surprisingly cool. And the staff is nice." Bokuto hums.

"Are you having fun?"

Kuroo doesn't say anything for a long time. They finish their warm up, running around the more typically crowded areas of the resort and Kuroo leads them into a path in the bushes that seems to head uphill. Bokuto is starting to feel the strain of the exercise. He hasn't been keeping track of time but the sun is very fully out. He knows his stamina is still better than Kuroo's so he trusts that his friend won't run them ragged, but then again, Kuroo hasn't been himself lately. The path turns to dirt and then it gets rocky. The incline gets harder and Bokuto realizes they're going up a mountain. He hasn't been off resort at all but he's aware now of the greenery that had played background to all of his experiences before. They're exerting enough effort now that neither of them can talk. Kuroo is still leading the way, and he's starting to take a significant lead with practiced steps. Clearly he's been up here before.

In a few more minutes, they make it to the top. The forest opens up onto a cliff side that takes Bokuto's breath away. He walks as close to the edge as he would dare and admires the drop. From here he can see the hotel as a series of small squares on the beach side. They're not that far away, he can hear the music from the stage on the beach, but he feels isolated. They catch their breath.

"How did you find this place?" Bokuto finally asks after a while.

"At first I wanted a high place to try and call Kenma."

"You made a phone call?"

"I needed to. I'll pay the price later."

"Hmm." Bokuto is quiet. He wants to offer to pay for it but it's not like he knows for sure that it's his fault yet. It probably is though. There's a good sized rock near the edge and they both sit down with noticeable space between them.

"That night," Kuroo starts. "When you fell asleep by the pool," Bokuto nods. "I was watching the light patterns on your face. It was dark but the resort lights were sort of..." Kuroo makes a series of hand gestures that just confuse Bokuto more. "Anyway. It was good. I was just gonna take a picture to show you later but..." He looks off into the distance. Kuroo has always been more serious than he appeared. It's a long time before Kuroo says anything else. Bokuto sits patiently, tracing patterns in the dirt with his feet. Finally Kuroo speaks.

"I spent a long time sitting with you in the dark. Watching you." He runs a hand through his wild hair. "Coming to terms with the idea that maybe you would leave me too."

"What? Kuroo--"

"I know. We're on the same team, we used to go to school together, we live in the same building now, but that's not gonna last, is it? Volleyball players have pretty long careers. We're young, but we're still expected to marry and have kids or find life partners. We probably won't always get to play for Japan, we'll have to move and adapt and--"

Kuroo doesn't really talk about how hard it's been for him since Kenma moved away.

"Look, I already had to change everything about my life once. I'm just trying to be prepared. You and Akaashi look pretty serious, maybe you'll want to move in with them, maybe I don't know. Maybe you'll be a house husband or something, who knows?"

"A house husband?"

"You're right, you could never keep that still." They both laugh. "Look, I don't know how I feel about you." Kuroo finally looks Bokuto in the eyes. "We've known each other for almost a decade. That's a lot. I..." Kuroo wants to talk about romantic affection and platonic attraction but it's a lot for his private mentality. Having this conversation is hard enough as it is.

"I'm always going to be in your life, Kuroo."

"You think that but--"

"No, listen." Bokuto grabs his best friend's hands. "I'm always. Going to be in your life. Not because we play together or live together. Not because we might never fall out of touch or move to different countries. Because I care about you, and I want to maintain what we have despite the distance." Kuroo doesn't say anything. "While we're at it," Bokuto decides to carry on. "You know that Kenma feels the same way. They're not like you and me, they don't like to talk all the time, they don't write unless written to and I know you. That's been really hard for you. But don't think we love you any less, Kuro!" Bokuto grabs Kuroo's hands in his. "We really, really love you!"

Kuroo's hug feels like a thunderstorm but they stay in the embrace for longer than Bokuto can ever remember touching Kuroo.

"Come on," Kuroo finally says after a solid ten minutes. He quickly stands and wipes his eyes while he thinks Bokuto isn't looking. "Let's go join the others." They make their way down the mountain chatting and Bokuto thinks this reminds him of at least half a dozen shows he's seen but it's perfect for them.

 

 

 

"Okay, what did we want to do that we haven't done yet?"At breakfast, the team and Akaashi sit at a round table outside to plot their last full day in Hawaii.

"We went surfing."

"Yes."

"We drank our weight in booze."

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaah boi."

"We spent time at the beach, at the pool, we played volleyball--"

"Probably not as much as we should have--"

"Do you want a rematch, co-captain?"

"We went dancing, some of us went hiking," Everyone looks at Kuroo. "We read a lot?" Everyone looks at Kuroo again. "What's left?"

"Have any of you actually gone off-resort?" A new voice joins in.

"Iwa-chan!"

Iwaizumi takes a seat at the table, not on Oikawa's lap, and all of them except Akaashi tell him with their heads hung that they only went to that one bar that one night. Iwaizumi takes his phone out kindly takes over an hour to plot destinations for everyone based on their interests. Once he's sent everyone away, Oikawa saddles up to him in earnest. It's the last thing Bokuto sees before he boards the bus to a cool shopping district with Makki and Kuroo.

Bokuto takes about a thousand blurry pictures on the way there, acutely aware of the decline in pics since his first day here. While Akaashi has been taking several gigs worth of documentation, Bokuto has been taking pictures of Akaashi, just a few so he wouldn't seem creepy. Unlike Akaashi who visits Hawaii fairly regularly for business and pleasure and is currently headed to one of their usual spots on the island, Bokuto might never be here again. He takes pictures of Kuroo and Makki and the bus and the scenery and all the American stores and the American McDonalds food they get to see if it’s different, and the clothes they try on and don't buy and even the stuff they do take back with them. He takes pictures of plants even though he always thought Akaashi looked silly doing it, and he takes pictures of people when they're not looking although he feels guilty after the third one and stops.

It's Saturday, it's crowded, but it feels energizing after a week of lazing around. Bokuto has been feeling pretty good this whole trip but now it's like his body knows it's almost over and he's itching to play again, to train again. Kuroo and Makki feel the same when he asks them although Makki is preoccupied with something else.

"What am I gonna do?" He moans into his rootbeer, sipping it with a grimace after being the only one in the trio daring enough to try the honestly minty beverage.

"About what?" Bokuto and Kuroo ask at the same time, both with fries in their mouths.

"Matsukawa."

"Who?"

"You know!" Makki slams his drink down. "Tall, dark, and handsome! Bartender from heaven from the other night, Iwaizumi's current best friend now that he's been away from Oikawa long enough. Mister Eyebrows-with-the-sultry-voice. Him. That guy."

"Oh, that guy--"

"Yes, that guy--"

"Stop it, you know what I mean!" Makki waves his arms around, still holding the rootbeer.

"Hmm..." Kuroo drawls. "Well what about him?"

"Ihflglsdjl."

"What."

"I like him!" Makki, ever the pale one even after all this sun, blushed from his neck to the root of his pink hair.

"Oho?"

"Ohoho?"

"Ohohoho?"

"Guys, this is serious! I like him and he seems to tolerate me enough and he lives on the other side of the world! You know, the side I won't be on in like a day?"

"Isn't Oikawa in the same boat? Have you tried talking to him about it?"Kuroo suggests. Makki looks down and sips his hell drink.

"I just don't really think my situation compares, exactly." He doesn't look at them when he says it. "I mean," He continues like he can sense they were about to protest. "Iwaizumi is Oikawa's long lost childhood friend turned it's complicated potential lover, you know? In comparison, Mattsun is a one night stand that I literally met yesterday. We just happened to have mind-blowing sex and a meaningful five hour conversation right after."

Kuroo and Bokuto are both familiar with the feeling of inferiority that Makki has toward Oikawa. It sort of took everyone by surprise since they were on the same team in high school and don't have the same position at all. Makki's position in fact requires complete trust in Oikawa, and he does trust him, he'd die for him in an instant even, but... Being a jack-of-all-trades, an all rounder at this level really isn't flashy. He's not a regular, and it's not like he got the satisfaction of beating Oikawa once like Daichi who's the closest to his skillset. He feels guilty for it all too, it's not like he wants to feel like this, but being the go-to non-setter setter on top of everything else is...

"Makki."

"What."

"You already have a nickname for him."

"So?"

"Five hour conversation even after you were drunk and he had a full shift of work and you both put effort into great sex?"

"Yeah..."

"Not exactly something you find every day." Kuroo glances at Bokuto. "Well, I mean maybe it is and I'm just unlucky, but no. I'm pretty sure you both just found something special. You know. Worth keeping, worth doing something about, worth--"

"Okay! Okay..." Makki noisily tries to extract the last drops of the brown tree-mint-confusion drink. "I'll think of something."

"That goes for you too, airhead number two." Kuroo turns to Bokuto. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you and Akaashi never say what you are or anything like that. I see it. Don't waste it with them, okay?"

"Kuroo..." Bokuto is a little stunned even though he shouldn't be. Kuroo is his best friend and Kuroo always gives kickass advice, even to his own detriment. Bokuto nods firmly. "I'll confirm it tonight."

 

 

 

Giving Makki advice is not the first deep talk of the day and it's not the last one either. Bokuto is in his room changing when Oikawa barges in without bothering to knock.

"Kou-chan!"

"Yes, Tou-chan!" Bokuto doesn't miss a beat.

"I need your help." The co-captain flops on his bed in the middle of the clothes Bokuto had set out and Bokuto hopes he gets to go to Akaashi's room tonight if they're sleeping together because he just knows his own room is going to be a mess by the time his friend leaves.

"Alright, what can I do?"

"So what would you do if you booked a trip to a remote--"

"It's not that remote."

"A remote island in the sun for all of your team and only less than half had come with you--"

"That's not even a little bit what this is about."

"And really, you only did it for the chance that you might be reunited with your childhood friend," Bokuto nods to keep Oikawa talking while he keeps looking in his suitcase for something he hasn't worn yet. "And you spend All This Time looking for him," Bokuto doesn't need to turn around to know that Oikawa is writhing on his bed dramatically. "And you find him! Finally! No thanks to your tall bespectacled teammate... And you want to kiss him suddenly even though the last time you saw him you were both covered in mud and hunting for bugs. And maybe he wants to kiss you too, he probably does, who wouldn't with a face like this," Oikawa's voice gets distorted when he squishes his own cheeks. "And then..." Bokuto turns around, just to make sure Oikawa isn't actually dying. "You don't." He says simply. "You don't kiss. You swim and you dance and you go see his house and his mom and she cooks for you and you look at your kid pictures and learn a few words of Hawaiian. He drives you to your room and you still don't kiss. You've been hanging out for a week, the only week you have and you never make that move and neither does he." Oikawa flops over onto his stomach and his next words are muffled by Bokuto's clothes and blankets. "You spend all this time together only to spend all this time apart, never to admit your feelings, drifting in an abyss of distance..." He trails off. Bokuto meanwhile has moved on to the bathroom to decide what to do about his hair.

"Oh god, not you too." He mumbles with concern. He tries to remember everything Kuroo told Makki earlier to see if anything applies.

"What was that?" Oikawa's voice is still muffled.

"Nothing, Tou-kun-chan." He calls out. "Tell me more about your troubles," He buys himself some time.

"There's nothing more to tell, Kou-tan-chin!" The bed springs groan when Oikawa flops back onto his back. "I'm in love with him and he must never know."

Bokuto brushes his fingers through his hair, vowing to make a decision about it later, then walks back into his room and sits on Oikawa.

"Listen you weenie."

 

 

 

Akaashi looks stunning as always. This evening, they're wearing a black dress. They meet up with the team, as always, and get a long table at the back, as always. It's a traditional Hawaiian restaurant this time, still on resort because no one has any money left but someone thought to make a reservation at some point. Bokuto thinks he looks nice maybe. He has his hair down since Akaashi said they liked it and he's not afraid to try new things. It's early, not even five already, but everyone has big plans tonight.  
He takes Akaashi's hand when they walk into the restaurant and tries to come off as someone worthy of bringing back home to their rich designer family but he feels silly so he tries to be himself instead. They sit and look at the menu and Iwaizumi once more plays good natured tour guide.

"I wouldn't do this for anyone else, so enjoy it." He grumbles after Oikawa thanks him for the fifth time.

It's more of a guided conversation tonight. They go around and talk about their favourite memories, the funniest moments, the best lines from their trip. They grumble about their upcoming training and their various sunburns. They talk about the things they bought the bruises they got. They tiptoe around the lovers they've had but relish in the rejection speeches they got. They chat about their favourite foods and about rootbeer. When all the food is gone they waddle in opposite directions, promising to get together the next day and have one final breakfast together.

Bokuto and Akaashi go to the beach. It's so much earlier than usual that the sun is barely setting. They take their shoes off and walk in the sand to a more secluded area of the beach, far from all the chairs and parasols. Bokuto rolls his pants up and they walk in the waves. The bottom of Akaashi's dress gets wet and they kiss. They fall to their knees, making out in the rolling current, careful not to stray too far and get knocked over by the undertow. Akaashi is golden and bright. A big wave splashes salt on their face and Bokuto licks it off, for fun.

"You look really nice in dresses." He says.

"You'll have to see the ones I have back home, I could probably put on a good drag show if that's what I was into." They wink, and Bokuto falls even more in love.

"What are we?" He blurts out. He sits in the wet sand, grateful that he has no reason to carry his wallet or cell phone with him here. Akaashi sits next to him and a wave washes up to their waists.

"I don't know." Akaashi says honestly. "We haven't really talked about anything like that, have we?" Bokuto shakes his head. Akaashi looks to the side. "To be honest, since we talked about how close we live that first morning, I've been picturing us together after this trip." A gust of warm wind blows and Bokuto feels himself lifting off the ground with it. At the same time a little wave tickles his feet.

"Me too," Bokuto says without hesitation. "I want to be with you Akaashi, I--" Bokuto stops himself, tries to edit everything he wants to say. "Can I be your boyfriend?"

It feels kind of childish to suggest, but it doesn't feel childish at all when Akaashi grabs his neck and collides their foreheads together in a heated salty kiss.

"Yes," They breathe out. "I would love that."

They roll around in the wet sand and the waves and it should be gross or at least uncomfortable but Bokuto can't notice the little grains of sand on his skin when all he can focus on is Akaashi Akaashi Akaashi. Akaashi in a wet black dress clinging to their body, Akaashi grinding on his lap as a big wave hits them in the back, spraying water drops that look like crystals. Akaashi with wet hair. Akaashi with these little hints of makeup now. Akaashi with a really nice tan. Akaashi with a really nice smile. Akaashi moaning his name when Bokuto thrusts back up, slides his hand under their dress.

"Is that someone out there?" A voice calls out from afar.

"Shhh!" Bokuto feels the world turning, his head spinning, the sand suddenly against his cheek, his body getting yanked down behind Akaashi. "Stay still." They whisper. They wait in silence, holding their breath. The waves lap at Bokuto's legs, tucked under his body, hiding.

They're allowed to be here of course, but this is so much more thrilling.

They stay like that, face to face pressed and wet until the resort staff member walks away, muttering something about boulders shifting with the tides. It's hard to wait but they manage and as soon as he's out of sight, they burst out laughing.

"Boulders?"

"I mean, I am in all black." Akaashi smiles. "And my butt is pretty round."

"Hmm..." Bokuto pounces on them, pinning their wrists into the sand. "I think you're much softer than a boulder." He says in a mock seductive voice.

"I sure hope so," Akaashi teases. They sit up, still full of sand, and lean against Bokuto, head on his shoulder. "We should rinse this off."

"Now?"

"If I don't get all this sand off of me soon, I'll die." Akaashi deadpans. Bokuto snorts.

"No no, I just meant..." Bokuto trails a finger up Akaashi's arm. "You know... We're here already so..."

"You want to have sex on the beach?"

"Yes."

Bokuto leaps up and helps Akaashi to their feet. They walk deeper into the ocean and rinse off. The water is clear and the sand is clean, Bokuto picks Akaashi up and they wrap their legs around him, body still partly in the water. Bokuto wants to spin them but he also doesn't want to break the sexy mood. He does it gently and sucks on Akaashi's neck all the while, leaving one, two, three little bruises. Akaashi gives one, two, three little moans and pulls lightly on Bokuto's hair. Bokuto squeezes Akaashi's clothed ass. The wet clingy material covering Akaashi's form is alluring but impractical.

"Can I take this off?"

Akaashi nods against his shoulder and Bokuto sets them down on the ocean floor. The dress's hem floats up and he picks it up, lifts it over Akaashi's head, balls up the wet garment and throws it on the beach next to their shoes.

"We'll have to rise it off later," Akaashi murmurs, unbuttoning Bokuto's shirt. "This as well," He says, taking it off. "And those," They take off Bokuto's pants and the two stand in the light current and soft lighting in their underwear and nothing else, appraising each other. "That's better." Akaashi traces the path of a water droplet starting in Bokuto's clavicle, down his chest and abs, into his belly button and into the ocean. Bokuto's eyes wander down from Akaashi's face as well, down their body and into the water. His eyes widen but he has a smile on his face. Akaashi looks down too.

"Oh yeah," They say, also smiling. "It does that."

Bokuto is mesmerized. The lower portion of Akaashi's belly, the part that's in the water is... floating? Sort of? It's suspended in the water, moving along with every wave and every one of Akaashi's movements.

"You want to touch?" Akaashi asks, clearly amused with Bokuto's fascination.

"Can I?" The older man whips his head up to stare Akaashi down in anticipation.

"Yeah, absolutely go ahead," Akaashi is soundlessly laughing at him now and the ripples of his shoulders bouncing send trembles down his body, amplified tenfold underwater. “Here,” Akaashi moves deeper into the water.

Bokuto moves to cup Akaashi’s tummy but it sort of… moves out of his hands? It feels amazing but also like it’s not there at all. Bokuto can touch Akaashi’s skin of course but it almost feels like their skin is filled with loose air. It should be weird but it’s great. Visually it’s very appealing and in terms of feel, it’s so out of the realm of anything that he’s experienced before. It feels special and intimate and Bokuto is so focused on that that he doesn’t notice how hard he’s getting. It’s quiet. The thought pops into his head again and this time he has to ask.

“How does it feel?”

“Hmm…” Akaashi thinks for a second. “Nice. Not tickly but almost. A little like wearing clothes? But also not?”

Akaashi lets him get his fill and eventually interrupts to kiss him. They move back to the more shallow waters and accidentally realize how aroused they both are when their legs slot together in just the right way. Underwear comes off and movements get more frantic. They topple over into the wet sand, quiet noises drowned out by the waves. They’re getting ready to get to it when Bokuto freezes up.

“I don’t have any condoms.” Akaashi freezes too. “Or anything else, really.”

“Oh.” Their tone isn’t sad though and they sit up to think for a moment. “How about this?”

Bokuto is already sitting in the sand. Akaashi gently pushes him back to rest on his elbows and makes room for themself in between his legs. Bokuto thinks he’s picking up what Akaashi is putting down but instead of wrapping their mouth around him, Akaashi rises a bit higher than that and places his cock in between their breasts. Bokuto gasps.

“Good idea?” Akaashi looks up, a sly look on their face.

“G-good idea—” Bokuto moans out when Akaashi starts moving. It’s so soft, and looser than any other activity would be but the change is welcomed, and Akaashi looks so damn good. It’s such an image. Bokuto is floored by the privilege he has to witness this person, the first and only person he’s ever fallen in love with, doing this for him, with him. A fantasy Bokuto has had for possibly over a decade getting fulfilled with the ideal person in every way. It’s a gentle movement and pressure but it doesn’t take long, between Akaashi’s face, the noises they make, the way they carry themself, to push Bokuto over the edge.

 

DAY 8 OF 8

 

The day goes like any last day goes. It's weird actually how much leaving Hawaii feels like leaving Brazil. They have a last swim instead of a last game. They say goodbye to their favourite employees instead of their favourite opponents. They pack up their rooms, leaving the doors between bathrooms open so they can chat and listen to music together like they did when they were clearing their bunks. They hand back their keys. They have a final drink or two. They take a group picture.

"I did it." Oikawa drapes himself over Bokuto and steals his drink. The outdoor part of the hotel lobby is crowded with people sad to leave but Oikawa sounds very cheerful.

"Hey--did what?"

"I confessed."

"Oh! How did it go?" Bokuto is on the edge of his seat and Oikawa can tell. He wiggles, making him wait, he makes faces like maybe it didn't go so well...

"It went great! Iwa-chan and I are an item now!" He explodes and Bokuto cheers out from all the built up anticipation.

"We both did it, huh?" Bokuto grins. "I hope things went well for Makki, too..." Bokuto looks for him in the crowd and sees him sitting on his suitcase exchanging meaningful gazes with Aone. "I'm sure it did." He says to no one. He gets another drink. They sit around and chat about nothing for a while.

And then, it's over. They pile their suitcases in a bus and drive to the airport. Bokuto is lucky; Akaashi is on the same bus to the airport as the team. They didn't come with the same airline so they're not on the same plane, but at least they get to make this leg of the trip together. Oikawa is also lucky, he is driving with Iwaizumi in his car right behind the bus, probably trying to give him a handjob and getting his hand batted away. Or maybe not. Bokuto wishes there was a window at the back of the bus so he could check Iwaizumi's face and guess, but there's nothing to help him place his hastily made bet with Kuroo. Bokuto looks out the side window at the passing scenery and enjoys not for the last time the feeling of Akaashi's body molded against his.

They get to the airport a few hours in advance. Akaashi has to hurry since their flight is earlier than the team's. Bokuto kisses them a goodbye kiss filled with promise. Yaku ushers most of the team inside to the border so they can get it over with and relax again, but Oikawa and Makki stay put, Oikawa clutching Iwaizumi's hand, Makki looking into the parking lot looking more and more worried with every passing second.

"Where is he..."

"Makki..." Daichi tries to comfort him. Makki turns away from him.

"I mean, I was foolish, really." He says firmly, fists clenched.

"No you weren't--"

"Just because you really hit it off with someone and have the best sex of your life and talk for hours and feel like you've known each other your whole lives and you tell him that and it doesn't scare him off, doesn't mean--"

"Makki!" The voice is loud and deep but far away. From the other end of the parking lot, Daichi sees a waving arm and a tall man running over. "Maaakki!!"

"Mattsun!" Makki cups his hands to his mouth to yell back. He drops his backpack and starts running too. The rest of the team, Iwaizumi, and Akaashi quietly pick up Makki's unattended luggage and enter the airport to give them some privacy. Somewhere in the middle of the airport parking lot, Matsukawa picks up Makki and twirls him around before kissing him senseless.

"I thought you wouldn't come." Makki whispers when Matsukawa gently brings him back down.

"I..." Matsukawa rubs his neck in shame. "I missed my alarm." Makki guffaws and punches his shoulder.

"I should have guessed!" He presses his face into the taller man's soft chest and clutches his shirt in his hands. "I don't want to go." Matsukawa is frozen in place for a minute, trying to figure out what to say. He wraps Makki in his arms and squeezes.

"You'll be fine. We'll write, and skype,"

"I'll be the best cam girl you've ever not payed." Makki mumbles into the fabric. He feels more than he hears Matsukawa laugh.

"Yeah and beside, you're on the national volleyball team, you have a job to do, right?"

"Play some kickass volleyball?"

"Play some kickass volleyball."

They hug and kiss and still don't want to let go, but not wanting to make things even harder, they say their final goodbyes in the parking lot. On the other side of the automatic doors, Makki is hit with the cold air-conditioning and the even colder feeling of being alone. He looks up, sniffing, and sees the whole gang there. At least three of them have their arms open for a hug and Makki runs at them with his eyes closed, landing somewhere in the middle of the group.

"There there," Someone says.

"It'll be okay," Someone else says.

They rub his back and kiss his hair and it takes him a while to realize that he's sobbing but he stays in the close sea of bodies with his head down until he can stop. Somewhere else nearby Iwaizumi and Oikawa are also having their goodbyes.

"So..." Oikawa shifts from one foot to the other.

"Hmm." Iwaizumi doesn't know what to say either.

It's funny, even after all these years, Oikawa is still the taller one. It's not funny at all when they have to part ways like this. He's asked the day before, Oikawa had been fully prepared to bring Iwaizumi back with him but he had refused. His life was here now, and that might not always be the case but his siblings were still young, his parents still needed him around, and he really loved it here.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"

"Tooru..."

"I know."

They still have so much to talk about, so much to do together. Oikawa still isn't used to being called by his first name like this, it's weird and wonderful and he wants to hear Iwaizumi's lightly accented Japanese telling him over and over again to just call him Hajime. He wants to stay, but he can't. He wants to merge these two aspects of his life together but he can't , not really. He wants the impossible, as always.

"I'm going to miss you." Iwaizumi says, straightforward and standing tall. Oikawa drapes himself over him.

"Me too, Iwa-chan," Iwaizumi clears his throat with a smile pressed against Oikawa's neck. "...Hajime."

 

 

 

They're here.

They're finally here.

Team Japan, four years after their qualifiers defeat, has risen to the occasion and shines brighter than ever in their own country. Sweaty and basking in cheers, wearing their bright red home team uniforms, they've made it.

In the stands, Akaashi cheers with the crowd louder than they've ever wanted to before. Somewhere on a little island in Hawaii, two boys flip over their bowl of popcorn in the dark, hunched over a computer screen and wake up three of Iwaizumi's siblings. Next to him, exhausted parents gently rock a newborn baby wearing ear defenders and hand them the child for a minute so they can do some enthused cheering of their own. On the court, the boys hug it out, Bokuto, Kuroo, Oikawa, even Ushijima and the little orange haired player that was subbed in toward the end. As the crowds file out, Akaashi makes their way to the court with the set of parents and a few other close supporters, beeming with pride.

"Akaashi, over here!" Akaashi smiles at the whole team and then turns toward Bokuto’s voice. "Toss to me!"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this story!! I've been working on it since late December so at this point I'm mostly relieved that it's done, but any feedback is appreciated! Also if you've never had the experience of seeing and feeling a belly underwater you're really missing out!! At least google it or something it's amazing and wonderful!

**Author's Note:**

> See you soon in part two!!


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